Walking The Void
by Tacitus Shadowrunner
Summary: The Golden Age has passed for centuries unknown. Man has been pushed to its last bastion, the City. The Traveler has been Dormant for decades untold. These are the realities Dorian must now accept. And a enigmatic threat looms that only He can face.
1. Returned

**Not my first story but it is my first one for Destiny so take it easy guys. Reviews, Favorites, and Follows are always appreciated. Also feel free to check out my other stories on my page. So… without further ado:**

**Walking the Void**

A Destiny Fanfic

"A Warlock's mind is an arsenal of deadly secrets,

balanced between _godhood_ and _madness_."

Grimoire Card: Warlock

Chapter 1 Returned

_My last memories were of wind. It was strong, it whipped my hair about. Wind so strong it felt like my face was going to tear apart. No… those weren't my last memories, they were my only memories. And they didn't start there. _

_I remember being strapped into my seat. Text was written on the seat in front of me, something-something Airlines, or something of the sort. Hours long flight, the sun rising over the clouds, it looked pretty. Then the plane rocked. My stomach did thirty somersaults in the space of seconds. I felt something, like a hand gripping mine, screaming voices, shrieking cries. The warmth of fire touched my face, but then it grew too hot I had to turn away, and the wind hit my face. A roaring sound overcame everything else, followed by the screeching . My stomach flew all the way up to my throat, my vision clouded over with orange fire and gray clouds. The face-ripping wind caused my eyes to tear, but I didn't close them. _

_I don't remember, feeling anything. Not fear, not sadness, I was falling to my death but I felt nothing. I tuned out the screams of terror, the cries of hopelessness—strangely in the midst of the pain and abject terror I felt something akin to peace. In the face of inevitable death, my mind was a blank slate. Maybe that was why I became a Warlock. _

_I didn't know it then, I didn't know about Warlocks, Hunters and Titans. The Traveler and the Darkness; Ghosts and Guardians. And I was about to lose just about everything I knew about the old world._

_Because moments later… _

_I died. _

-x-x-x-

"Guardian? Guardian!" Dorian opened his eyes, his retina's reacting harshly to the first light they've seen after seven hundred years of dust and decay. His ears began to pick up sound too, and they weren't the most welcome of sounds. Alas, an explosion finally shook him into to consciousness. "So glad I found you. It's been a while since we've seen one of you. But Guardians are always welcome! By the way, I'm your ghost!" The cheery voice, originated from a many sided polyhedron, floating in the air in front of him. Its color was slate gray with yellow highlights, it had one blue eye that emitted light, brighter whenever it spoke. Another explosion sounded off in the distance, followed by the rat-a-tat of machine gunfire. Had he come back to life on the field battle? Dorian crept to his knees, then slowly to his feet with a vigor he had never felt before. He stood a pile of wreckage in the middle of hilly ground. The wreckage wasn't from plane.

"Where am I?"

"This place used be known as Europe. I managed to find your remains, and I've revived you. You won't remember anything, but it'll come back sooner or later."

"Which one is it? Sooner or later?"

"We have more pressing problems."

"Such as?"

"There is a group of Guardians near-by. If you ever wish to get out of this godforsaken place, I suggest you get to them. They might not come back in a hundred years." Dorian gave him a look of utter confusion.

"You want me to head towards the explosions?"

"Yes!" It said with much too cheery a tone.

"No, thank you. I'll head in the other directions." Dorian dusted off his shirt and trousers and started walking. _Whoa… _The clothes that covered his body weren't like anything he had ever seen, not that he remembered much from before waking up. They did feel snug and comfortable however.

"There's nothing else the other way. C'mon! We have to go now."

"I'd take my chances with someone else."

"There is no one else. No people. Not in a hundred miles, not in a thousand." Dorian stopped dead in his tracks. "If you continue on, you'll miss the only opportunity you have of ever getting to the City. Now, let's go!"

Dorian relented, and began followed the Ghost's lead. "The City?"

"Yes, the Last City on Earth."

"Really? What happened to all the others?" Dorian asked with a bit of humor in his voice. Humor that the Ghost didn't seem to catch.

"They were destroyed during the Collapse, nothing outside the Traveler's protection survived. It sacrificed itself to save us, and now we are forced to take refuge beneath its Light."

"You _are_ serious aren't you?" Dorian said, finally understanding the gravity of the situation.

"Come see for yourself." The Ghost accelerated forward and flew over a crest. Dorian followed the ghost and saw for himself the wasteland he was in.

He stopped in his tracks as he arrived. A wasteland indeed. There was very little left of his world. The most prominent of edifices were in ruins, overrun by nature unkempt. Buildings were a mass of rubble and rusted metal. But that wasn't what caught his attention. The rubble and rusted ruins were old but they didn't look untouched. "I thought you said there wasn't any other people anywhere near here?"

"Yes, there isn't."

"So who made all the mess, it looks recent?"

"What makes you think they were caused by anything human?"

Dorian swore under his breath and stopped dead in his tracks. "That's it! Stop! Where they hell am I? What the hell is going on? I demand to know!"

"You are in the wastelands of Old Russia, centuries unknown after the Collapse of Humanity's Golden Age, marked by the arrival of the Traveler. And now you have been chosen by the Traveler to protect humanity and reassert its dominance over earth then the whole of the solar system. You have been chose to serve under the Light and push back the Darkness. You are a Guardian." Dorian stood in silence a moment, feeling like he had just been handed a screwdriver and been told to make house. Ill-equipped and just not up to the job. "Does that satisfy you, Guardian?"

"Yes, the name's Dorian by the way. What's yours?"

"I am your Ghost, Guardian."

"So 'Ghost' then?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that you're missing a window of opportunity. You must hurry!" Dorian began to run half-heartedly. He was paying too much attention to the alien Landscape around him. He didn't have any memories, so it confused him even further why it bothered him at all. Whenever he tried to come up with an explanation, whenever he tried to come up with the image of what his surroundings were supposed to look like… all he could come up with was… blank. Whatever it was that bothered him, it was subconscious. A gut feeling telling him it was that he wasn't supposed to be here.

"Not long now it's just—" Another explosion rocked the landscape, Dorian halted, afraid what he was going to find over those hills. It never occurred to him that whatever was over those hills was going to find him. Dorian then heard the clicks behind him. When he turned he saw the humanoid beast rushing him with blade.

_Move!_ spoke a voice inside him. His muscles began to move on their own accord. The rest of his brain began to work a second later and followed when the rest of his was already going. He landed on the ground beside him maladroitly—fortunately the thing tried to dive after him and suffered the same fate. Spinning in the sand, Dorian rushed to get back on his feet before the thing did. When he succeeded, he ran.

Over the hill the scene was worse. The entire landscape was filled with the things, they rushed from rock to rock as the ground exploded. It took Dorian a moment to realize they were evading something. The two men perched atop a rusted plane—raining hell onto the countryside.

"Guardian, behind you!" Dorian spun all too late and the monster pounced on him. It lifted a blade form the folds of its ragged robes, if whatever he was wearing could be called a robe. Then the voice spoke again, _Kill it!_

"What?" Dorian said out loud.

The monster tilted his head like a dog, in curiosity, unable to understand human language. But the word registered nonetheless.It snarled with its mandibles and four-eyes

_Kill it!_ It was then Dorian's hands moved on their own accord. Stretching outwards, making an outstretched palm. Power flowed through his hand his hand, focusing at the palm. It the great energy pooled at his finger tips, not unleashing. As if awaiting Dorian's permission: he gave it. A blast of sound deafened his ears then the thing was jerked backwards and off of Dorian. Pushed by an fluorescent purple force field, the creature landed on all fours.

Dorian climbed to his knees. Then as the thing searched the sand for its fallen blade, Dorian drew back his hand. He felt the unknown voice in him again. _Kill it_. Dorian felt the thrum of power as the energy filled his finger tips. Then Dorian launched the force field again, this time jarring the monster into the ground, snapping its bones.

"You seem to have caught their attention." His ghost said.

"Who's attention?"

"The Fallen, the one you just killed is a Dreg. And there's more coming your way. I'm trying to contact their ghost but my frequency is wrong."

"Then broadcast on all frequencies." Dorian said, panic creeping into his voice as he picked up the Dreg's blade. _Kill them, kill them all. _The voice spoke within him once more. _You don't need that, you're no Hunter. _Dorian looked at the knife once before dropping it. _You are a Warlock, you fight with the Void._ Dorian felt energy run all throughout him. Whatever it was inside him it was powerful, and Dorian felt his limbs fill with that power. He stretched out his hands at the nearest dreg and then let lose. A force-field of energy ripped away from him, stronger the before, and tore through the Dreg. "On your right." Said his Ghost, but Dorian was already on it, sending another wave of energy. "There's too many of them." _Don't listen to him, at least a little bit more._ Dorian charged at the remaining Dregs, launching two waves of energy, one from each hand. At a distance the fields would lose energy before hitting the targets, only stunning the Dregs but not killing them.

But once he was in range, Dorian unleashed another force of energy. _Actually a blade wouldn't be all that useless now._ Dorian picked a blade from the dead Dreg then turned to face another Dreg. Except that it wasn't. No melee weapon on this Fallen, he instead had a rifle in his hand. Aimed for Dorian's head. _Bang. _TheFallen fell.

No pun intended.

All around his friends looked on in surprise, and when they turned around they were met with a knife. The man plucked his knife from one Fallen then moved to the next one. As he ran for them his figure lit up in blue, and he became a blur. Running from one Fallen to the other, slashing with a blue glowing knife, soaking up the bullets as if they were nothing but flecks of dust. His glowing energy went out before the last fallen, but by then he had his rifle out. At point blank, the fallen didn't stand a chance. It's head exploded and he fell back. Then the man turned—woman. Too many curves for that to be a man. Dorian could see clearly now, his savior was a she.

"What the hell were you thinking? Running into a group of Fallen without any weapons? What sort of idiot are you?"

"Elsynn calm down!" said a strangely electronic voice. It was the other one he saw by the wreckage. The man, at least as far as Dorian had been able to deduce, looked at him. He tilted his head as if analyzing every aspect of Dorian. "Where are you from?"

"What kind of question is that, Tax?"

"Humor me, Elsynn. Where do you come from Guardian?"

Dorian didn't know, "I don't know. All I remember was I was falling then I woke up—"

"Woke up?" The man named Tax said. His armour was broad-shouldered and he had an emblem that liked vaguely like a hexagon. His face was covered by a sleek visor that glowed with bluish light. "Was he there when you woke up? Hovering right over you?" the man gestured to Dorian's Ghost.

"Yes." Tax nodded then turned to Elsynn and gestured to Dorian, as if that was all the explanation needed.

Elsynn looked at Dorian in for one second, then turned away, but Dorian was able to catch a bit of murmuring, "All you Warlocks are Crazy."

"I'm assuming you don't have a your own Jumpship."

"My what-ship?"

"Exactly. You're going to have to tag along with Elsynn there. You usually have some spare room in yours don't you?" She grunted in reply, "Alright then let's get moving."

"What are we all doing then?"

"We received orders to patrol the area. Fallen activity has heightened in the area recently. The Vanguard of Hunters told us to scout the area tell them what we see. But so far we haven't seen anything other than you."

"Got a name?" Elsynn asked curtly.

"Dorian."

"Alright, Dorian. Catch." She said it with such a flat tone that Dorian almost didn't turn to see the scout rifle flying his way. "You know how to fire one?"

"No."

"It'll come to you. It usually does."

Dorian held the rifle at arm's length, still not knowing what to do with such a weapon.

"Here's some ammunition. Don't shoot yourself in the foot." Elsynn said then continued on her way.

"Is she always like that?" Dorian asked Tax.

"Like what?"

"So… curt."

"On the battlefield I guess, but she's better when she's out of combat."

"I see. I'm Dorian by the way."

"Taxon-4. But you can call me Tax. And welcome to Old Russia, what's left of it anyways."

"Heads up, boys!" Elsynn called out. In an instantly Tax's calm friendly posture straightened. His lights behind his visor went from blue to red. His weapon went up. "Two dozen Fallen in formation around the mouth of cave." Elsynn continued.

"Here's some spinmetal leaves. Have your Ghost construct a helmet for you. You're going to need it." The pile of leaves appeared in a flash of blue lights. As soon as they appeared, Dorian's Ghost zoomed on it and began to scan it, moments later the pile disappeared in a another flash of blue light.

"Hold out your hand, Guardian." As Dorian complied, a helmet appeared out of the air and landed in his hands, a silvery metal with forest green highlights around the edges and around the visor. The way the visor was built into the middle of the face made it look like a hood. "Very basic I'm afraid, the Ghost apologized. Not at all flashy. You should be able to buy the stylish stuff at the Tower."

I looked to see both Taxon-4 and Elsynn already crouching at the top of a hill, Elsynn was eyeing the enemy though the scope of a sniper rifle. Dorian's ghost then zipped around his own Scout rifle. "Good build. High damage, equipped with a scope. You're lucky she gave this to you for free, it would have cost you quite a bit at the Tower." He slung the rifle over his back

"I'm starting to think of the Tower, as a shopping centre, with all you're saying about it."

"It seems as though they've begun their attack." The Ghost said in such a plain voice, that Dorian nearly missed the urgency of it. The two were gone. Dorian ran after them just in time to see Taxon-4 hit the main group of Fallen with a Grenade. Elsynn ran and slid behind a rock, then came up equipped with a sniper rifle. Watching the two work, was like watching the hands of a clock move. With accuracy and precision, the move of one completed the other. Dorian enfeebled,_ what could I do?_ Next to the sun, the candle was rendered useless.

Then the voice spoke, _the Exo is hitting the Fallen head on, he won't need back up either. The Fallen is drawn out. What does that leave open?_

"The Cave."

"Excuse me?" His Ghost asked, but Dorian had already ran down the hill.

"New Guy! What the hell?" Elsynn cried out, but Dorian wasn't listening to her anymore. He was charging for the mouth of the cave. He let energy fill his hand. As the Fallen closest to the cave turned from Taxon-4 to Dorian, Dorian's hand was already in his face. The Creature's head snapped backward in face with such energy, the entire body flipped backwards, its head at an unhealthy angle. The Second fallen by the mouth of the cave suffered a similar fate. The Dorian, still running at full speed, slid into a crouch as he entered the mouth of the cave. By the time the Fallen on the ground looked back, there was nothing but dust.

There in the darkness of the cave, Dorian realized he had been given a weapon. He pulled the rifle off of his back. "Ghost can you give me any light?" then the Ghost's eyes brightened as it's beam tightened. The Ghost lit the space in front of him like a flashlight, lighting up the three dregs standing in the dark, poised to jump on his if he had moved any further forwards. Then the voice took over again. Dorian didn't even think, but his body had already decided to do things.

_Butt to the shoulder._

_Safety off. _

_Hand around the grip._

_Finger on the trigger._

_Aim down the sight._

_Squeeze._

The powerful weapon bucked against his shoulder, the bullet went high. _Hand further down the barrel_. _Stabilize and…_

_Squeeze._ The Weapon barked in the dark. The round his the Dreg's center mass. Dorian shifted to the right, then fired again. The last dreg, seeing his two fallen comrades, dodged to the right. But from Dorian's point of view all he had to do was shift his right foot to the right, change his aiming a bit more and…

The last dreg went down, headless.

"Can you get any brighter?"

"I'll try. More Fallen up ahead, they've got guns take cover!"All there was down there was rocks, so Dorian crouched behind the closest rock big enough to cover all of him. In the dark of the cave each shot was highlighted by a flash. Also by the tremors that travelled the rock Dorian was hiding behind as it tore to shreds. _Wait for a lull_. _Go! _Dorian vaulted over the rock and aimed for the reloading Fallen, it fell in two shots. A wave of energy knocked the other out of his cover and then Dorian finished him off with his scout rifle. "We should wait for the two others." Dorian's Ghost said, turning back to the entrance of the cave. A staccato of machine-gun fire could still be heard.

"I thought you told me to go inside they cave while the Fallen up there was distracted."

"I didn't say that." Dorian looked at him weird. He waved his doubts away from his mind then continued down the cave. The walls of the cave were replaced by sheet of metal, as the cave slowly looked more man-made then natural. No time to wonder, the fallen had noticed his presence. Dorian raised the rifle to his shoulder and let her rip multiple rounds into down the path. One got clipped in the shoulder and went down. Dorian finished him off, while the two others scrambled into cover. Then his gun went empty.

Dorian dove for the cover of an old steel pipe as the cave around him lit up. _Finger the ejector. _

_Draw the new mag and push it in. _

_Then pull the handle._

Dorian emerged from his cover, hand charged with energy. A force field of energy knocked the fallen back as Dorian walked forward, stepping, then shooting, stepping then shooting. The trio of Fallen running out of cover, caught Dorian by surprise. He pulled the trigger thrice but only one bullet connected. Then the Fallen turned to him and fired it weapon. The bullet caught in him in the gut—forcing the air out of his lungs. The second his him in the shoulder, before he sent another wave of energy in the direction of the Fallen. Then in a frenzy of panic and rage, he let the scout rifle rip into the Fallen.

In the end more bullets had hit the wall than the Fallen, but they were all dead on the ground. Feeling a wave of panic hit him, he checked his stomach then his shoulder where the bullets had it. He expected blood but he got nothing.

"Oh, I should have mentioned the armor can take a few hits. Which should be able to protect you almost indefinitely, provided you allow it to regenerate to their full capacities."

Dorian let out and sigh of relief . Glancing at his Ghost, annoyed, "It didn't occur to you that this information would have been important to know earlier?"

His Ghost moved in the Ghost's equivalent of a shrug then looked on. There was rattling ahead which meant more Fallen. "There's a shotgun there! Should come in handy, though I should tell you ammunition for shotgun is much rarer than ammunition you'll find for your rifle."

His ghost was right. all Dorian was able to find was four rounds for the shot gun, Plus the one already loaded into his shotgun. _Shotguns have a bigger kick. Both to you and your enemy._ _But you can be ready, they never can._ Somehow the knowledge of his armor and the voice in his head spurred him on. Around him, the cave had fully changed into old rusted hallways that lead down into somewhere. Dorian was eager to find out. He steadied his shotgun, then continued forward at a brisk pace.

_Too quiet. Probably an ambush_.

Dorian's step faltered but he continued to walk forward. The four Fallen waiting in the next hallway was expecting Dorian to still continue walking unprepared into their line of fire. What they were unprepared for was, his purple force-field hitting them like a wave. Then in came Dorian Shotgun in hand. The shotgun had a much louder bark and a bite that tore each Fallen like they were made of wet toilet paper.

"There's something down there." The Ghost said. "I can feel it. We should investigate."

"Can't you go down there yourself?"

"Not unless I want to get torn to shreds by the Fallen probably guarding it."

Dorian inserted his last Shotgun shell then pulled out his Scout rifle instead. Save for a rainy day, he thought to himself. The end of the hallway open up to a room. The door led to a catwalk over looking a rather large room. Dorian dealt with the three Fallen in the room quickly. Then dropped down to investigate the thrumming of electronic instruments at the end of the room. "I need to scan thi—"

Dorian felt the ground behind his shake as something titanic dropped to the ground behind him. It was a Fallen, larger than any he had ever seen. Standing almost two heads above him. It wore a much more flamboyant red cape, which flowed raggedly out behind him.

"Fallen Captain!" The Large fallen backhanded Dorian across his chest sending him flying backwards into a pile of rusted pipes. Dorian rolled out of the pile but felt as rapid jabs of pain hit his side. He leapt into cover, and watched as Fallen began to crawl out of their hiding places. A bold enough Dreg ran straight over, and landed in front of Dorian. He fell moments later with half a head, not that there was much to begin with. Dorian swore at himself, he ran right into the trap. He emerged over his cover, managed for shoot a Fallen in the face before the Captain's machine gun forced him back into his cover.

By staccato of gunfire, Dorian felt rather than saw the Captain getting closer. Dorian crawled, along the cover of pipes narrowly avoiding gunshots each time. Another bold Dreg showed himself. It landed a strike with his blade, which, Dorian found out, held some electric charge. An outstretched palm, then of wave of energy from a distance close enough Dorian heard the bones inside it crunch. Dorian looked back at the entrance. It had been sealed shut, of course it had.

"You armor levels are dangerously low," his Ghost warned him.

"How long does it take to regenerate?"

The Ghost glanced at the incoming force, "Too long. I'll try to hail the others."

Save for a slight deterrence, any bullets he fired the Fallen Captain shrugged off. And Dorian was low on ammo. It seemed stupid. He had only been awake—no, _alive_ for about an hour or so and already he was going to die. That woman was right, what the hell was I doing? He thought to himself. This was probably the exact reason they kept him out of the battle for the fear that he would have done something colossally stupid such was rushing into an ambush. All I did was follow the voice, where did that voice even come from. Was it even real?

_Yes, I am real. And in case you were wondering, I am the Void. I am ancient and powerful knowledge manifest. And you're not going to die today. Pick up the rifle, and I charge. _Upon the beck of a voice so raw and ancient and powerful what could Dorian but comply. Then he jumped out of his cover and ran. He aimed for the fallen not on the ground, but in the catwalks he nailed them in several shots. He felt another shot hit him, then another, then another. He turned to the Captain and the goons surrounding him.

_Hand up._

_Pool in the power. _

_Run then jump._

_Unleash it. _

Dorian felt the power coalesce in his arms and he threw it down at the Captain. It wasn't a wave of energy. It was an orb, fluorescent purple and glowing. Then the orb hit the Captain. Energy rained the ground, all the energy focused on the orb exploded consuming all in its path. The Captain's skin grew bright purple before vaporizing. The Dregs around him suffered the same fate.

Dorian landed back on the ground, and saw that there was nothing left all around him. Just himself in the silence. He killed everything. _Well done_ then he heard then he collapsed

-x-x-x-

"Dorian, Dorian!" He heard Elsynn's voice, then she shook him back into consciousness. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"El, they're all dead." Taxon-4 said.

"What?"

"They're all dead. And look at this, this used to be a Captains flag. And look at the ground."

"Orb of Light. This early? It takes most Warlocks at the very least a week before they're powerful enough to use Novas."

"And he's only been alive for a day."

"You're lucky you took everything out with one Orb of Light. If there had been anymore and you had collapsed… They would have picked you apart."

"But they didn't. They're all dead." Dorian replied rather snidely.

"You should be more careful." Tax said.

"I've finished scanning the computers," said a Ghost. It was Taxon-4's. "It was sending a signal, summoning Fallen ships on their frequencies."

"To what purpose?"

"I haven't found anything yet that could suggest who put it there or for what purpose. Whoever it was they set it up well and left quickly."

"And that was what attracted all the Fallen to this Cave, that's it?" Dorian asked.

"I didn't find anything else." the Ghost replied.

"Then let's get back to the Tower. I'll report back to Cayde-6." Said Elsynn.

"He also has no jumpship, so he's riding on yours."

Elsynn glanced at Dorian, then said offhandedly, "Sure, why not." Dorian followed the two outside, where two ships awaited. The large mechanical beast hovered ten metres above the ground. Their twin engines thrummed with power, as they descended a little lower.

"Once you're on the Tower, Ikora Rey will take you in. The Speaker might want to see you too." Taxon-4 explained as they walked to the aircrafts. " You'll also be given pay and living quarters at the tower. I'll explain the rest when we get to the Tower. And I'm sure they make it clearer than I have just tried to explain to you."

He vanished in a cloud of blue lights. Soon so did Elsynn. Dorian felt his every nerve on his body tingle, then found himself sitting behind Elsynn. She hits some buttons on the panel in front of her then turned to her ghost. It was white with blue highlights. "The City."

"Calculating trip." Said the Ghost. "ETA: twelve minutes." The engines thrummed with power before coming fully alive in a roar. Dorian sank into his seat, as the plane launched forward.

"Have you ever seen the Traveler, Dorian?" Elsynn asked, her tone growing light for the first time. Dorian replied no, "The City?" Again, no. "Well you're in for quite the sight."


	2. Dark Times

**A/N: Hey I hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter. I will do my best to churn out a chapter every one or two weeks. Hopefully I can get a lot of work done. I plan to publish these in several parts with an obvious arc for each. Then pausing to hopefully catch up some more before publishing the next part. Right now I'm about 70% done writing the draft for part 1. Wish me luck. **

**Please leave a review whenever you get the chance. **

Chapter 2: Dark Times

Simon was pushed hard into the cushions as Elsynn's jumpship banked sharply to the right. The seat shivered to the roar of thunder, "Bad weather?" Dorian asked, trying hard to see outside the small window beside. Unlike Elsynn's bird's-eye-view cockpit seat, the windows around him had been shut with a shutter-like steel.

"The Traveler has a sphere of influence, it keeps the darkness away. The thunder clouds around the city are part of that protection." Elsynn answered. "Between that, a thick forest, and a mountain range, I don't see how any Darkness, Fallen, Hive or whatever can ever get past that terrain, then the wall, then us Guardians."

"Hive?"

"I just remembered that you're new to all this, aren't you?" Elsynn smirked then turned in her seat. "The Traveler has had enemies probably for longer than we have known. For all we know it probably has angered more species than it has befriended. The ones we've met are the Fallen, the Hive, the Vex, and the Cabals. It all might as well be gibberish to you now, but the Tower holds all the information a Guardian needs to know before he goes into battle, the rest a Guardian needs to know lies in the battle."

"Who is the Traveler?" Dorian asked plainly, wonder what sort of man could conjure up so many peoples to hate him. If they were even people to begin with, which he doubted. Elsynn interrupted his thoughts with a snort.

"The Traveler isn't a person."

"What is it then?"

"Easier to show you." She turned to her Ghost. "Engage manual override." The ghost issued out a robotic equivalent of a compliance. As Elsynn grabbed the controls then brought the jumpship to a steep climb. Dark, thundering clouds gave way to lighter and softer clouds as the jumpship leveled. The cloud assumed a pinkish color—a soothing mix of orange and lavender. When the clouds faded away Dorian caught sight of a high wall with a set of towers. All seemed to be abandoned save one. Elsynn seemed to be headed to that direction, until the jumpship climbed over it and then zoomed over city.

Then Dorian saw it. The gigantic white sphere floating thousands of feet in the air. Right above the city. It's underside seemed to be crumbling and cracked. At first Dorian thought the orb was reflecting light, until he realized, that light radiated _from_ the sphere itself. A soft, soothing white light washed over Dorian.

Elsynn seemed to have sensed Dorian's wonder because she then said. "That, Dorian is the Traveler."

"What is it?"

"We don't know."

"But it's alien," She stopped, "By alien I mean, beyond the solar system. It gave Mars, Venus and Mercury all life. The power you used back there, that's all thanks to the Traveler. However, the Traveler had an enemy, it's called the Darkness. You have to understand that this is all very old stuff… This is the time the Darkness arrived and the Golden age ended. All we know is that the Traveler did something that stopped it, and saved us. But anything more than that is just conjecture." Elsynn zoomed in over the Traveler than banked to the left to let Dorian see the Traveler.

"Dashline, this is Tower, come in."

"This is Dashline," Elsynn replied.

"What are you doing?"

"Just showing a new guy the Traveler."

"New guy huh? I'll notify the Speaker."

"Taxon-4 is already on it."

"Roger, that, Dashline. Hangar Bravo Six is clear for you."

"Wilco, Tower." Elsynn looked away from the Traveler, as the jumpship began to bank away from the Traveler and head toward a high rise structure.

"The Tower." Dorian deduced.

"Very astute." Elsynn answered somewhat curtly, and making no attempt to conceal her sarcasm. "That's your home now." She continued. "Living Quarters, Training Facilities, Shops, Bars… everything the everyday Guardian needs outside of battle."

_There used to be more._ Dorian flinched, it felt like someone whispering in your ear. But no one was there. _At least a dozen of them, protecting humanity's last refuge. _

"What?"

"I didn't say anything." She replied, confused.

As they zoomed over the Tower, Elsynn tapped her seat belt loose. "Watch your step. Ghost, initiate basic landing protocols."

"What?" Dorian felt his body tingle again. An electric wave traveled from his finger and toes to his chest. Then he was stumbling unto the ground. A couple of passing Guardians glanced at him and laughed. He saw Elsynn materialize into the air and continue to walk without a break in her stride. She glanced at around her before looking down at him for find him still on all fours. A laugh escaped her lips. "I've been through some many jumps I can't recall the last time I faltered." Her voice faded in as her helmet opened with a pneumatic hiss, and she pulled it off.

Then Dorian was blown away. Her eyes were of silver and glowed with a certain bluish light. Her skin was the color of the sky on a cloudy evening sun set, akin to a lilac shade of blue. Elsynn shook her hair, still a little damp from being under a helmet for so long. The white, silvery strands shook out and fell a couple of inches below her shoulder. She was like nothing he had ever seen before. _She's an Awoken and… your gawking. _"First time seeing an Awoken, is it?" Elsynn asked.

It shook him out of his trancelike state, "Sorry to stare, it's just… wow."

"I don't take offense. It's a little strange that's all," Dorian's clueless expression beckoned her to continue, "most people have already seen one sometime growing up. Only new Guardians are usually as surprised as you are now. Not all of them are old enough for them to see have seen an Awoken before being Returned. Whenever you come from, it must have been a long, long time ago. And you can take off your helmet , it's safe here. Tax's meeting with the Speaker should be done now."

Elsynn turned and began to walk, in the lead. From behind, Dorian couldn't help but be in wonder of Elsynn's Awoken features. _They come from the outskirts of the known world, the Deep Black. They were human, but in the darkness something changed them. And in that darkness, some stayed. Although some venture out for adventure. And some, like her are chosen to be Guardians. _

Taxon-4 emerged from the crowd, his helmet off revealing the true reason why his voice sounded electrical. He, for all intents and purposes, was a robot. And it turned out those lights Dorian mistook for part of his helmets visor, were his actual eyes. His eyes followed the rest of his sharp angled face. It make him look fierce and angry, though only at a glance. Now his eyes burned blue, seemingly non-hostile and relaxed. _He's an Exo. It's not clear when they were created, maybe in the Golden Age, maybe in during the collapse. But they are creatures of amazing dexterity and capability. And their emotions are rumored to have off-switches. _

"The Speaker welcomes you to the Tower, Dorian! He is currently with the vanguards, but once he finishes, he'll want to see you. Ikora Rey too, she'll handle your payment and also to provide you with your living accommodations. For now, since we sort of found you anyways, we'll help you get along. I'll show you around the Tower. I have a few spare weapons that have nothing to do but lie around and pick up dust. So you don't have to spend any money for weapons that's for sure."

"I appreciate the help."

"No problem."

-x-x-x-

Taxon-4's tour—or as he prefers it, Tax—included the a small section of the housing complex, the hangar, a bar and the courtyard/terrace that faced the Last City and the Traveler hanging in the sky. Elsynn went on by herself to collect some bounty, as well as trade the spinmetal she and Tax gathered. By the time Tax and Dorian returned to the Tower's Terrace, another Exo told them that the Speaker was a expecting them.

"Who is the speaker?"

"The Speaker is a man who lives in the North of the Tower, we passed by his residence going to the housing sections. I'm sure he's a knowledgeable man, he practically lives in a library. However, he's the only man who knows how to communicate with the Traveler. He speaks to the Traveler, then the traveler speaks back in its own special way. One of his duties—his chief duty, I'd like to think—to decipher what cryptic knowledge the Traveler tells him." Up the stairs and through the curved-wall hallways Tax took him till he arrived in what Tax told him was the Hall of Guardians. The large room encompassed a table, around which four people stood. A man in white robes looked expectantly at Dorian as he entered. There were three others, an awoken man, an exo, and a dark-skinned woman. The woman glanced briefly at the white robed man then back to Dorian. Dorian felt all of a sudden uncomfortable with the attention they were giving him.

"Welcome Guardian," Said the man in white robes. "I am the Speaker, Voice of the Traveler. This is Ikora Rey, the Warlock Vanguard." Dorian gave a respectful nod at them both. "More Guardians are Returned these days. Nevertheless, it's been a while since the last addition to our ranks. We're glad to welcome you."

"So am I," the woman said. "I am Ikora Rey, the Vanguard of the Warlocks, and I have been told you are one of us. I welcome you to our ranks."

"I'm sorry, one of what?" Dorian asked.

"A Warlock. We are warriors blessed not only with the Travelers Light but with knowledge."

"Now, you said that you wanted to report back about your mission." The Speaker said turning to Tax and Elsynn. "You each will see your respective vanguards for a debrief." Then he turned to Dorian "Ikora will explain your duties and accommodations in the tower. Any other questions you can ask me or Vanguard Rey." A glance from Vanguard Rey said that that last part was not part of whatever agreement they had.

"Do you have a Fireteam yet?" Ikora asked him.

"A what?"

"Guardians usually work in fireteams or two or three, we're spread a little too thin to afford too many guardians to be in one area at the same time. The really bold and frankly stupid ones—usually Hunters—go out on missions alone. Since you're quite new to Guardian work, and you've yet to obtain you won jumpship, it'll be easier if you tag along with one or two other guardians. Those two seem to have taken a liking to you." She gestured to Tax and Elsynn. "You can always buy your own jumpship, though with the amount of money you currently have, I guess you have you're going to be set back pretty deep in debt. Or you can rent one for a relatively cheaper price. Or you can tag along with another guardian. Sooner or later, you will be given a mission, so you're going to have to decide soon. Pay will only be given to fireteams with the amount of members they have when the job was given to them. They can hire assistance afterwards, but any payment for it comes out of their own pockets. So decide soon before you end up burdening yourself, or worse other guardians.

"Which brings me to the point of payment, at some point you going to need money. We will only give free accommodation and allowance to Guardians up until their first job or four week—whichever comes first. Other essentials like food, weapons, and armor; you _will_ need. And they're not free. We give a certain amount of pay for missions, at some point they might not be enough. You can also take bounty and other jobs, from other guardians. Guardians also have rest system you're going to want to get familiar with. For every five days of "work" you get two days. You will be given housing, by Tower North there is a gate behind it lies the housing sector, your Ghost will now precisely where you ought to go. Now… Uh.. what else is there, at some point I'm going to have Ghosts do this instead…"

"What does being a Warlock mean?"

She looked at him and issued a quiet 'hmm', "Well, there are three types of Guardians. Warlocks, Hunters and Titans. They are each granted different powers by the Traveler. They are each serve purpose. We are the first to tap the traveler's powers and wield them against our enemies. Pieces of the Golden Age are given to us, and we study them, pieces of the past could hold keys to our survival. Some of us fight battles against the Darkness, wielding the Light to great effect. Others scour the frontier in hopes that they find knowledge to push the Darkness back. Where the Titan's power are more defensive and the Hunter's aggressive, our powers can do both. We wield in our fingertips the power of the Void. The moment you came to life, the Void energy filled your being. You are a Voidwalker.

"Most of the city's libraries are open to us. The Speaker's own library in Tower North is open to any Warlock who wishes to see, provided that we ask his permission of course."

"What is the Darkness and what did it do? How did humanity even get here?"

"Easy, easy… any history questions you can ask to the Speaker. Besides he would know more than I ever will. I have work I must get back to," She gesture to the table she was standing around. "The Speaker's quarters is in Tower North in you hurry you can still catch up with him. I'll wire your first weeks allowance and your room codes to your Ghost."

"Thank you, Vanguard Rey."

"You're welcome, most people just call me Ikora or Rey."

"You look like you deserve the respect, besides I'm not most people." Dorian said snidely, Rey smiled and waved him off. Dorian nodded respectfully to her, then left at a brisk pace. Though his mental map of the Tower left something to be desired, he could see the Speaker making his way to Tower North and hurried after him. From that distance he could also see the respect Guardians all had for the Speaker. Those who wouldn't have greeted anyone otherwise did greet the Speaker—some even bowing.

"Speaker?"

"Yes? Oh, Dorian, back so soon."

"Vanguard Rey told me that if I had any 'history' questions I should go to you."

The man chuckled at Ikora's choice of words, "What is it you seek?"

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me what happened? How did humanity get here. So many things have changed, and I can't help but feel out of my depth."

"Do you have any memories prior to your Return?"

"Just fragments, and they make no sense at all."

"It's alright. They always take awhile to return, and never all of them. I've always believed that its Traveler's way of saying that we are all reborn anew. But how do you say that the world has changed, if you don't even know what has passed."

"It's more of an intuition, everything I see feels alien to me. Like it has fallen from what it should be."

"Everything deteriorates…"

"What I feel is beyond that. Not just the appearance of old age, anything can put on the appearance of old age. It feels more like impropriety."

"Impropriety of what?"

"I don't know, of nature, of balance."

"Well, well, you _are _a Warlock if there ever was one. Warlocks posses an intuition. It comes with being the first people to use the Light. The Traveler gives you power, but also knowledge, fragments and pieces of memories might not even be more. And sometimes holding that much power in the head is… not good. It can be said that not all Warlocks dies in combat."

"What do you mean?"

"Holding that much information. Lives, even memories that isn't yours. And having those thoughts contain such power, knowledge and mystery at the same time. I drives one insane. Perhaps that's why Traveler does not return all of one memories when upon Returning."

"What is the Traveler?" Dorian asked, while stealing a glance at the scarred white orb hanging in the air.

"No one knows. You can say that it's a very private individual. It doesn't talk about itself. Only gives orders and advice, power and knowledge. Ancient myth leads us to belief that humanity first encountered it on Mars centuries ago. It's arrival ushered in the time we only know today as the Golden Age."

"Then what happened?"

The Speaker's pace slowed. "Let me show you." The two climbed the stairs into Tower North. The Speaker waved into the air and his Ghost materialized. "Show us." The Ghost's eye grew brighter and brighter till it projected an image into the air. "When we found the Traveler—or it found us—it brought humanity further in advancement than ever before. We stepped foot on nearly every celestial body in the solar system. And the Traveler transformed the solar system forever." The Image in the air zoomed on various planets—following as the traveler made its journey from planet to planet. Mercury and Venus grew lush and green. The moons of Jupiter and Saturn each became things of their own, green with forests , blue with oceans. "But the Traveler had an ancient enemy: the Darkness. But we know as little about the Darkness and its origins as well as we do about the Traveler. And it destroyed us, in a battle lost to history. It undid everything the Traveler and Humanity had built."

"So no one actually knows what happened?"

"Well… not completely. Not everyone finds this bit interesting."

"Please…"

"Very little was ever recovered apart from records found in Warminds, which are complex AIs developed to simulate complex battle scenarios and war games. One in particular, named Rasputin, observed the Darkness as it approached. The mention we have of the Darkness was in a log describing it as an 'transient extrasolar event.' A powerful presence that displaced gravity, energy headed towards us."

_It confounded every simulation they ran of it. _Dorian flinched, _it was acausal. _

"Everything we saw about it confused even the scientists assigned to study it. It defied physics in every way we thought of it. It was—"

"Acausal." The word was out of his mouth before he could think.

"What did you say?" The moment the Speaker asked him that question, Dorian knew he had said the wrong thing.

"Acausal, I think…"

"Are you sure you don't remember anything from before your Return?"

Dorian couldn't find anything to say. More and more he begun to feel that something was wrong with that voice in his head. Best keep it a secret, "It's more of instinct," _Won't satisfy him_. Shut up… Thanks though, "I don't know how I know. I just do."

The Speaker looked at him from behind that stoic visor. Not being able to read the man's face made Dorian uncomfortable. Did he say the right thing, did he over compensate for the lie? "Well," The speaker said after a second, "that was the exact word that they used to describe the Darkness. After it arrived everything fell apart, we don't know how, but we lost everything beyond earth. After that we lost the planet. Everything fell but the city.

"Then… The Traveler saved us. In act of sacrifice it kicked the Darkness back into the void. The Cabals, the Vex, the Fallen, The Hive; they stayed, occupying what used to be ours. After some time, we regained the ability to fight back, to defend what little he had left. Still, the Traveler never left us."

_And here we are. _

"As pretentious as this may sound, we have been burdened with great purpose. With are ranks being as thin as they are we try to lose as little Guardians as possible. That said, however we are still losing more Guardians, than Guardians are Returned. The Awoken, when they were still human, fled to the asteroid belt, setting up what we know today as the Reef. Their brethren in flight, the Jovians haven't made contact every since they vanished beyond the belt. Their rulers, the Nine are obviously not interested." The Speaker cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I had wished that your First Day could have been more jovial. However, these are dark times we live in."

"One last thing, are most Guardians fighters?"

"Most of us born with the ability to fight yes, very few Guardians do anything other than fight. There are some however, who remember that they were once different people, not people. If our own memories after our Return is anything to be trusted of course. Now, I'm sure you have other things to do, Dorian."

"Actually, I don't even know what to do now."

"I suggest visiting your room, purchasing some equipment and getting ready for your first job. We have our own training room here in the Tower. There are also… well, these are things your Ghost can tell you."

"Thank you, Speaker." Dorian bowed a bit in respect. "Where is it then, my room?" Dorian asked his Ghost after a considerable distance from Tower North.

The Ghost materialized in front of him, "Through here,"

Dorian smiled and followed his Ghost's instructions to the nearest Elevator. It led him through the gate and into the housing sector. Which was impressive. Houses were lined up in rows that ascended so that no rows would obscure another's view of the traveler. The buildings were clean and minimalistic. Wood, steel, stone; all seemed to constitute the construct. The roofs were made from grass, that Dorian had once heard made for better insulation and fresher air. And while the buildings, all looked modern, the streets were cobbled and narrow. The grass roof of the level row below it gave the impression that each house had lawn.

He entered a two storey house that he shared with several other guardians. His second floor room was a simple, small, utilitarian space with a window that faced the city and the Traveler. There was a small wardrobe for his things, except that he had none other than the grey armor his Ghost crafted for him. A bed. A shower stall. A small table adjacent to the bed. All of a sudden, a wave of exhaustion hit Dorian. The sky had gotten darker and darker and sleep felt like such an inviting—Priorities, right…

Dorian went back down Tower Watch in time to catch a scarred jumpship float near the tower, drop off a Guardian, then limp back to the Hangars. The Guardian collapsed almost immediately, a nearby exo rushed and caught him. The Guardian had his visor up, so there was no way of knowing who or what it was. His exhaustion managed to snuff out any spark of curiosity his mind had struck. I'll ask someone tomorrow, he told himself.

_It might be important_…

Dorian his hand waved in the air like one would swat a fly, until he realized that whatever that voice belonged to it wasn't material. By the time he went back down he had bought a set of armor, under the advice of his Ghost, and taken several deadline-less bounties. "Is it too soon to be taking bounty assignments?" he had asked his Ghost.

"Guardians tend to have relatively short livespans, there's no reason to wait." Said in a seemingly cheery tone." Dorian began to wonder how flawed their programming was, and how wrong he was to assume so much, when he decided not to care. He was too tired for anything else. The moment he fell on his bed he was asleep.

He dreamed he was falling. There was fiery debris everywhere, the created trials like comets behind them as they burned red-hot like coals. Then he woke up. The sun was shining bright through his window, it was also the running in the hallways that provoked him. He poked his head out the window to see Tax and Elsynn running by in full armor—he learned the distinctions between the armors whilst browsing the night before. He was going out today?

_No rest for the weary,_ Dorian, swiveled a one-eighty degrees, but not one was there. Why was there—oh, right. _This is the life a Guardian. Guardians are the humanity's walls. Their weapon it's borders. _That's from somewhere, Dorian thought to himself.

"You again?" Elsynn said from down below him, couldn't tell if it was sarcastic or genuine displeasure. Sarcastic as it turns out. "You free right now?"

"I guess."

"You know how to handle a weapon?"

"I think."

"How bout for some action?"

"What now? Today?"

"You scared?" She said as her dark blue Hunter's Cloak materialized in her hands, and she attached it to her battle suit.

"No just…" _Just what? _"What about breakfast?"

Something wrapped in plastic materialized in her hand and she threw it at him. He caught it, an instant, meal or nuts or oats or something of the sort. When he looked back down Elsynn had already joined Tax, looking expectantly back at him. Dorian looked at his room, then thought;

Meh, what the hell. He washed his face, got out of his room and jogged after them.

"You still have that spare seat?"


	3. Wolves

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading so far. I hope you'll enjoy the story. If you think something's off or could do with more improvement, please say so in the review section. I also hope that you'll forgive the small grammatical errors here and there. That seems to be the widespread problem people have been complaining about. I'll do my best to fix it!**

**I'd like to personally thank ArchWarrior213, UnknownArtyom, as well as one Nameless reviewer for their feedback. **

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 3: Wolves

George looked his scout rifle over, checking for anything out of place. But no. The weapon had been perfectly cleaned and reassembled the night before. And then the night before that. Though not the night before that, that was the time he was carving a hole through Thrall charge. Enough space for Clave-6, his fellow exo fireteam-member to run behind enemy lines and straight for that wizard—a shot of his Golden Gun made short work them from behind their lines. But checking his weapon was a habit he developed early in his days as a Guardian, back when he ventured out into the frontier on his own. Just himself with no one to back him up: the lone wolf.

It had been three days since that then. Three days and two nights of reconnaissance on a Hive position. Clave-6 was getting antsy. George could see it in the way he was constantly looking down his sights at the opening of the cave. Fortunately light on the moon was not nearly bright enough for his scope to glint. Otherwise George would have told him to find something else to do. Bell-17 was back in sitting cross-legged, pulse rifle across his lap. Supposedly meditating, although he couldn't figure out how the machine could meditate. What do they do, examine lines of their own code? It felt a little awkward once they ran out of things to do. He felt like he did a decade or so ago, worried about entering a team with no humans. But as it turned it out, they were more human than his damned Ghost.

"Activity!" Clave-6 said excitedly. Bell was alert and on his feet faster than George was. He shouldered his auto rifle and followed Bell to where Clave was perched. Moondust floated around with every step he took. The two Hive had finally climbed out of that cave. Three days into the recon, and this was the first time they had seen Hive come _out_ of the cave. All this time they had only been going in. The Hive coming out of the cave were carrying something with them. It was a body. A Guardian?

No. It was one of the Hive's own, not long a second acolyte was piled over the first. The zombie-like creatures mindlessly waddled back into their hiding place.

"That's it," Clave said, "They're definitely doing something in there."

"Could be a number of things, do you think it's worth checking out?"

"Sure it is," Clave said convinced, "Beside we've been to worse places. Remember that Cabal encampment we ran into last year?"

"Yup," George echoed. "It wasn't pretty. But we sure kicked ass."

"I have a bad feeling about this one," Bell said. "But sure." Bell allowed some Solar energy to appear just above his skin, becoming softly radiant in the dim light. "We _do_ kick ass." Bell cocked his pulse rifle and Clave did the exo equivalent of a laugh. The three ran down the hill then used some rocks for cover.

"It's all clear," Clave said, sounding somewhat disappointed at not being able to blow something up. Frankly, so did George. However he did notice the considerable change in Bell's posture. His eyes shined a different shade of their usual yellow, now somewhat fiercer.

"Bell?" George said, noticing Bell's discomfort.

"These bodies," He said approaching the bodies dumped by the mouth of the cave, "I can still sense the Void in them."

"Are you saying a Guardian did this?"

"A Warlock. They must have been caught at the edge of a nova bomb or hit by an axion bolt somehow. It's recent." Bell said. He crouched by the bodies and ran his hands just above the two acolytes. As if he could feel some sort of ethereal heat that wafted off the thing. George approached the acolyte corpses himself, he had to admit the bodies did look like the one's he would see back when Bell was still a Voidwalker.

"Have you heard of any Guardians in the Area?" The two exos shook their heads. "No call for help? Ghost, any transmissions on any frequency?"

The white polyhedron materialized into the air, "None whatsoever guardian. But it isn't the custom of the Hive to carry out and dump their dead. The bodies usually disintegrate after a while. They _were_ already dead anyways."

"They must be deep down, and overwhelmed if they haven't been able to get out or even call for help." Bell observed.

"All the more reason to go down there then." Clave said with the thrill of battle creeping into this voice. George looked at Bell, who concurred, before nodding himself.

"Let's go."

-x-x-x-

The Hive standing in the first chamber of the cave didn't stand a chance. Bell charged forward, shining with solar energy, into the main group of acolytes dwelling at the center of the Cave. Behind him, George and Clave-6 worked their around the main group and picked off those in towards the back of the chamber. By the time the wizard had noticed most its acolytes were scorched, Clave-6 already had it square in his sights. The sniper rifle barked twice and the Wizard went down.

"Strange," Bell commented yet again, "I've never seen anything like this. These Hive are more organized than I've ever seen them before and…"

"And what?" questioned Clave.

"Something feels off, maybe this wasn't such good idea." Bell abruptly stopped his investigation and stood up.

"But it there are Guardians down here, we need to help them. You said so yourself, the Light in those bodies were recent." George said.

There was a longer pause than there should have been. "That's actually what I can't figure out. At first, I thought it was Light, now… I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?"

"I sense the Void energy still resident in the bodies, but the Light didn't feel right."

"Is anything other than a Guardian capable of casting that kind of attack?"

Bell was thoughtful for a second, "No."

"Then we continue. There are too little of us as it is, we need to help them. I'm not going to abandon Guardians on a hunch." The Three continued down into the depths of the moon. Slowly the path became larger and larger, the Caves opened up to large antechambers, and of course more Hive. George, sprinted forward, summoned a skip grenade, and tossed it before sliding into cover. He watched at the Light exploded and split off into smaller spheres of energy that sought out its victims. By the time the last remnants of his skip grenade had found its last victim, George already had his auto rifle out and had begun peppering enemies on the far side of the cave. The oncoming wave of Thralls forced George to whip out his shotgun. Despite the gaping holes he left in the line of the Thrall their unrelenting advance forced him back. The exception of Clave-6, who took up a position on higher ground, the rest of the fire team was being pushed slowly towards the edge of a cliff.

The twin wizards behind them rallied them on. "Clave, give me suppressing fire."

"I can't," Clave yelled over the staccato bursts of his auto rifle, "Give me a second." The auto rifle continued to sing.

"George clear me a path." Bell yelled out, pulling out his fusion rifle. George allowed Light to pool into his hands, forming a ball of energy. He jumped out of cover and ran to where Bell was standing. He jumped over Bell's figure and setting his grenade lose into the space in front of Bell. Arc energy exploded upon contact, each bolt, like lighting, traveled from one Thrall to the other. Bell rose over his cover and began to systematically take down the ranks of thrall around the Wizards with large sweeping shots. Without their minions the Wizards, turned around and fled to their comrades in the next antechamber. But not before Clave landed the space in front of them. In his hand was a hand cannon, alight with powerful Solar energy. The two Solar fueled shots tore through the Wizards, vaporizing them with the Light. "Something is definitely happening here." Clave retorted as he waved the air in front of him, trying to clear away what was left of the wizards.

"I can sense something very wrong in the air." Bell's ghost said as it materialized. "There's something powerful here. It's coming up from below, large numbers!" Clave had his Sniper rifle up out, and was crouching within the space of a second. He door the passageway form below carefully. What he saw next confounded him, being the slightly less experienced of the three. They were humanoid creatures, but they looked more like robots. Robots with a singular red eye in its head, and a cone-shaped head.

"What the hell is that?" Clave exclaimed.

George sighted the passageway with his scope, it took him a moment before he recognized what they were. "Vex!" Bell noticeably stiffened before having his pulse rifle back out again.

"They're robots, Clave," George explained, "Mean bastards, they like to swarm you, and they can teleport. Aim for their center mass, that's where their power cores are."

"Gotcha'," The sniper rifle, bucked against Clave's shoulder. George, lined up behind, Bell and began to pick out, the Vex goblins one by one. Carefully, he watched the entrance, knowing whenever there are this many goblins, a Minotaur was not far behind.

It wasn't. Not two minutes into the battle the eight foot, shielded Vex unit walked into the party. It large cannon-like weapons began to firing on George and Bell's position, which was exactly what they wanted. As the two kept the goblins at a safe distance, Clave turned to the Minotaur and began his work of rendering the Vex unit asunder. Once its shields were down, Bells finished it off with his pulse rifle and firebolt grenade.

"What the hell are the Vex doing on the Moon?" George pondered.

"Where do they come from?" Clave asked in follow up.

"I don't know, the Vex rarely travel beyond Venus. Reports say they have presence on Mars. But I've never heard of Vex on the Moon."

"Do you think they've gotten to earth?" asked George.

"I'm not sure the Traveler would allow it, but it is possible. Wait a sec…" Bell's ghost materialized into the air. "Can you sense that?" He said to the Ghost. The Thing nodded.

"I can feel the presence of another Ghost in here. It's still alive, but it's not responding to anything I send."

"But its still alive?"

"Yes."

"Then there's a good chance that the Guardian with it is. Let's go."

The three rushed down the passage way and deeper into Moon. The two man Vex patrol at the entrance, dropped to Clave's throwing knives. "Multiple Minotaurs and Wizards," Georges ghost remarked, "The Hive and the Vex working _together_?"

"Not time to wonder. Ghost, where is it?"

"In that chamber over there, that door behind the line of Minotaurs is where we want to go. Ah, we always head for such wonderful places." George cracked a smile for a short second, before pulling his shotgun and jumping over an advancing line of Goblins, in the time it took for them to turn around, George had already fired four shots and knifed the last in it's abdomen. He kicked the goblin away before it exploded.

"They're in the room at the far end of the chamber," George exclaimed. "Push!"

It wasn't long before the numbers of Vex and Hive in the room dwindled. The three fought to the center of the room, before the enemy thought it best to surround them. In short, a bad idea. Bell, summoned a Circle of Radiance around them, the same time Clave summoned his Golden gun. George thought about summoning his own, but thought it better to wait. He had faith in the efficiency of his fire team. He cleared a path to the room with an arcbolt grenade, as his teammates cleared out the rest of the room. George summoned his Ghost and commanded it to open the door.

When it was opened he instantly felt the air chill, even through his suit. Bell paused as well, he felt it too. At the center of the room, floating above a pedestal was a familiarly white object. A large shard, its jagged edges giving the impression that it had once been part of a whole. Bell felt the shard radiate with the Light. But a black, liquidly-like substance swirled around it, leaching of the Light the shard produced and replacing it with…

Darkness.

That entire room was filled with the Darkness' power. Under it was a Guardian, A Warlock in a long maroon coat. He lay ground weakly on the ground. "Can you stand?" George asked.

"Barely," the Warlock answered weakly.

"Clave, help me out." The exo obeyed and supported the Warlock in his other side.

"What the hell is that?" Clave exclaimed as he looked at the shard floating at the center of the room.

"No time, the Warlock said. "I must get to the tower quick."

"Bell! Cover our exit," As soon as Bell left the room two Minotaurs materialized by the exit, cutting them off.

"Hold him!" George exclaimed. Clave complied, putting his arm around the Warlock as George rushed out to meet the minotaur, his shotgun out and fully loaded. Then he heard it. A Hand Cannon discharged behind him, followed by the loudest, most painful sound he had ever heard in his life: Clave's pained grunt as the Warlock kicked him away. A hole in his chest, electronics sparking and mechanic fluid pouring out of it like blood from a wound. The Warlock forsook his weakened posture, it was a ruse. As George saw the light fade from his friend's eyes, he dropped his shotgun. And whipped out his Hunter's blade. The Darkness all around him suffocated the flow of Light into that abyss. But he still had enough Light reserved within him. So he drew out. All of it.

Then the Bladedancer took over.

He leaped backwards with inhuman speed, he landed atop one Minotaur and buried his dagger into it's head. Arc energy coursed throughout the Vex unit, vaporizing it. George moved on to the next Minotaur, Slashing across its eye as he pirouetted and landed on the ground then he stabbed upwards. Then he turned to the Warlock, who looked on unfazed by George's display of agility and lethality. While the Light still coursed in him, George charged at the Warlock—arms crossed and raised for a strike when he felt a sudden jolt. His entire momentum was lost.

Standing still where he stopped, he felt a hot pain bloom in his chest. Only then did him notice the distortion in the air ahead of him. A Hunter phased out of invisibility, and pulled her dagger out of George's chest. He tried to warn Bell, but he no words came out of his mouth as the Hunter turned invisible again. She slashed off Bell's leg and buried her dagger up the exo's jaw faster than George could blink. The Hunter returned, "It's done."

"Well done, Reylani," The Warlock spoke. So sure of himself, but George couldn't help laughing. The Warlock knelt by George, "What's so amusing, my little dead friend?"

"You're forgetting something," George said, stalling.

"And what is that?"

George bided his time, for he was dead no matter what, Bell on the other hand. After a while he said faintly, "Sunsinger." George couldn't see the Warlock's expression behind his visor, so he imagined it the best he could. The Warlock quickly looked back at the place where Bell had laid slain. It was empty, the earth around it scorched by Solar energy. The Warlock chuckled.

"I didn't know." The Hunter said, the Warlock only shook his head slowly.

He turned to someone George couldn't see, "Send your best after it". George caught sight of the Vex as it disappeared.

"Reylani, pack up, it seems we are leaving the Moon."

"But why?"

"Fireborns are always tricky, you never know when they're actually dead." The Warlock said to himself before turning to the Hunter. "Our operation is compromised. If that Sunsinger is smart enough to dig its way down here than it can get out even faster."

"Why send the Vex after it?"

"Because I'd rather not have them here when we dismantle the operation!" The Warlock lashed out all of a sudden. "No matter, we'll regroup with Jackson on Mars. Let's go". The Hunter faded in a flash of blue. The Warlock was about to follow before he pooled energy in his hands. It was unlike anything Bell has ever done, it was darker, more restless. It glowed a harlequin shade of green. It was also the last thing George saw as the Warlock lashed out at him.

-x-x-x-

"And you're sure that's what you saw?"

"Yes, Speaker, I'm sure." Bell-17 answered. "I am absolutely sure. It was a Warlock and a Hunter I'm sure of that, but I don't know who they are. I need to go back out. Find their bodies and their Ghosts."

"No, Bell-17. For now stay and rest, let the Light heal you before go out into the field."

"But I can't just leave their bodies to the Darkness."

"That is how most Guardians' corpses have been treated." The Speaker said sternly. Bell-17 did not reply, "But I'll have my Ghost extract the location from yours. A fireteam will be sent to examine the site and retrieve the bodies and their ghosts."

"Thank you, Speaker." A Ghost came and began to examine Bell-17's heavily damaged body. The Vex's ability to teleport made the fight tough, but as soon as he was within range, Bell transported to his jumpship and made for the Tower. Not without sustaining a lot of damage however, and using his Fireborn ability had depleted nearly all of his Light. Thankfully his jumpship had a fully functioning autopilot, he barely had the strength to stay wake. As soon as he was on his feet in the tower he collapsed. Thankfully a kind fellow exo caught him and brought him inside.

"One more thing, Bell-17. Not a word of this to anyone. We cannot afford to have our ranks worried." Bell was about to complain before the Speaker continued. "I will make sure those responsible will be brought to justice. I'll make sure this mess is taken care of. But if Guardians have betrayed us, then they might already be among us now." Bell-17 slowly nodded agreement. The Speaker exited the room and went to the room next door.

"See I told you so," the Speaker said as he came in. Zavela hmph-ed in agreement, and Cayde-6 only stared on the footage on the large screen. Ikora Rey was the only one who actually spoke.

"I see your point now, but there are hundreds perhaps several thousand Guardians out there. Tracking down one Hunter and one Warlock, won't be easy."

"Different I-told-you-so, I was talking about the other thing." Each Vanguard shared a mix of looks at each other. Ikora was the first to speak again.

"I don't see how he could help us." Rey had begun, "You saw what he was like. He's young and inexperienced, he—"

"—Was chosen by the Traveler." The Speaker finished.

"He's right Ikora," Cayde-6 said. "Whatever reason is, the Traveler warned the Speaker and Returned the boy for a reason. I trust the Traveler."

"So do I, but I have my qualms, and you've been wrong before Speaker."

The Speaker only nodded from behind that enigmatic mask. From all the years spend working together, Ikora had learned to read the Speaker from his entire posture. Although not always so successfully, what she saw right now told her that the Speaker was still confident.

"All the resources we pulled for this better work out." Zavela said, speaking for the first time in while. "Your plan to allow him to bond with Taxon-4's Fireteam, is working well. Faster than any of us anticipated actually, he just left with them an hour ago."

"He's left already?" Ikora asked, a hint of amazement in her voice. Zavela nodded. "I'm not sure if that boy really is special or just plain stupid."

"He would have made a brilliant Hunter." Cayde-6 remarked with a tone that was something akin to regretful. Ikora shook her head in reproach. Zavela said nothing. No more words were said, but everyone was thinking about their new found Guardian.


	4. Helluva-A-Lot-To-One

**Sorry about the two week gap, you can blame the one extra week delay on my Thesis. Enjoy the new chapter… and really guys, leave reviews! Have fun!**

Chapter 4: A-Helluva-A-Lot-To-Three

The _Dashline_ was an Javelin LRv1 jumpship. It possessed a delta wing design, with two main engines and four smaller thrusters mounted along the middle provide it with good thrust and maneuverability. It had two tail fins that jutted out at a 45 degree angle. The two point-defense turrets on its underside would give anyone pursuing it a second thought. However, in the days after the Collapse, no one ventured into space much, too little of humanity was left to reasonably populate the earth, let alone space.

The other thing Dorian realized after his third day of occupying the passenger/gunner seat of the _Dashline_ was, how empty space truly was. From the distance that the _Dashline_ left warp, even the massive Venus looked tiny and insignificant. It made Dorian thankful to whoever it was who invented warp drives. The thought of travelling the dark and empty space between the planets sent chills through him.

"This Dorian, is Venus." Elsynn explained as the moved the ship closer to the planet. The underside of the ship grew hot with re-entry friction, "Much of it, like much of earth, is still unexplored. Too little resources to amount a massive expedition, and entire fire teams have been lost to the unknown expanse of jungle. What we have, and we fight hard to keep: the Ishtar Region. The Ishtar collective used to live there, who were mostly scientists and students of science. There lies archives and libraries, gold mines to the Cryptarchs." Re-entry fires wrapped their hands around the ship as it descended faster through the atmosphere.

"Just to clarify, Cryptarchs are those historians and archeologists right?"

"Yup," Elsynn banked the plane hard to the left as it pierced the topmost layers of the atmosphere. "By the way, how are you liking that new pulse rifle?" Elsynn asked referring to the weapon he traded for the day before. He hadn't had the opportunity to try out his _Pulsar MSC_ much, but from the little experience Dorian had with it, he instantly liked it better than the scout rifle. The tight bursts of three meant he could send more rounds down the field at a single time—and since it did not have the kick of a scout rifle—with more control as well.

"I love it." Elsynn chuckled as the Jumpship pierced the clouds. The orange clouds in its atmosphere gave way to the scene that was the Shattered Coast.

"Welcome to Venus, Dorian."

"The Ishtar Sink," Said Dorian's Ghost said, materializing into air next to him. "Home to the Ishtar collective… and that is the shattered coast. Used to be home to millions if not billions. The best and brightest came from all over the solar system to be part of the Ishtar Collective. Some speculate that this was where the Vex came in. This was also where they studied the Vex, although they discovered but a fraction of it." Dorian wanted more information but his Ghost stopped there. He was about to ask when—

_They studied it for some time, _Dorian was still learning not to flinch whenever that voice came out of nowhere. The voice only he seemed to be able to hear. _What they discovered nearly drove the best and brightest of this solar system to lunacy. The Vex came from a place far, far from here. Some question if it was still within this plane of reality. And in their mind they also ran a simulation of the universe so perfect it was indistinguishable from reality. Then the scientist began to doubt reality. But of course they tampered with it for far too long. Not long after that, its brethren came flooding through. Obliterating humanity on Venus and especially Mercury. Then they turned Mercury into a machine planet in days. _

"ETA ten seconds, try not to fall on your face this time, Dorian." She chuckled in mockery as he readied himself. In a flash of blue he was on the ground, he still missed a step, but didn't fall completely. That counts a little, he thought to himself. The _Dashline_ dropped them off, then flew back into the sky, where it would fly in geostationary orbit until summoned.

"Alright, Dorian, since you're new here. Let's get you access to a sparrow first." Dorian nodded to Tax as he began to slowly learn the modus operandi of arriving on a new planet. They would have to access the sparrow. Which took a ten minute jog. During which Tax explained to them their mission. "Alright our mission is to track down a Fallen Captain who takes pride in hunting libraries and burning them to the ground. The Cryptarch is giving us a big bounty for this, and I'm partial to the preservation of knowledge, so let's not screw this up."

A two minute skirmish with Fallen patrol later, they arrived at the Sparrow station. His Ghost took ten seconds to link him to the sparrow station in the Ishtar Sink—Dorian was on his sparrow in no time. Their target location was a skyscraper where the Captain was last reported. The overgrowth worked to highlight how much the Shattered Coast had deteriorated. The Fallen were only too happy to finish the job. The captain's residence was no big secret, his house banner as well as his own personal "graffiti" was like a big arrow floating in the sky, pointing right at his residence. Both Tax and Elsynn seemed to know exactly what the Cryptarch was talking about as soon as the man finished describing the graffiti found on the libraries. The only problem was the five klicks between that Skyscraper and the sparrow station.

After two days of riding the Sparrow, he felt like he hadn't mastered anything at all. He always fell behind on the sharp curves because he was unwilling to bank as hard and as fast as Tax and Elsynn. He still jumped out of his skin whenever the booster fired.

Whatever happened to walking?

He shouldn't feel bad about it. No one got that good at driving a sparrow in forty hours. Elsynn and Tax drove theirs with both instinct and purpose. Their movements were clockwork, practiced over thousands of hours into perfection. _Don't be so severe on yourself, you don't even know where you're going_. Dorian could at least agree to that, whoever it was that seemed to suggest that to him. It was part of the job Dorian figured, doing this, and flying around the solar system, and shooting at aliens. Honestly, Dorian could almost relate to the way this particular Fallen Captain thought. It was a real estate game. Between Humanity trying to take back earth and sending its Guardians out to reclaim land that were once theirs, and every Fallen captain trying to carve out a little kingdom for each of themselves—finding what that captain had found here on earth would have cost him so much more resouces. In fact, Dorian wasn't even sure that he was a problem, he didn't pose a immediate threat to Earth. But then he had to go burn those books…Dorian didn't feel as though this was something Tax or Elsynn understood that well, but to burn the libraries meant there could be so much information. So much about humanity that was literally going up in flames. As a Warlock, and a curious person in general, he simply couldn't let all that information be destroyed. Perhaps he was taking Vanguard Rey's words about Golden Age knowledge too seriously—but until he was sure what Ikora Rey meant, he was sticking to his own belief. Slowly the cityscape turned into canyons then into cityscape again.

"Do you see that tall spire," Tax called over the comms, "The one with the glass on the tops floors still intact."

"Yeah." Dorian said looking over.

"That's where we're headed. I know that after combat on earth, you might be feeling be feeling confident about taking the fallen here," In all honestly he wasn't, "But this is Venus now. The rules are different. There's more enemies, more dangers. Sure, there's more action, but if you play it wrong then you're putting you and your fireteam at risk. Got that?"

"Affirmative."

"Good, you stick with me. If you plan on sticking with this fireteam for long, it'll do you good to pay attention to how we work. There's not a lot of guardians out here. Later we'll probably be outnumbered a-helluva-lot to three," Both Elsynn and Dorian cracked a smile. "But when a team comes together those buggers won't stand a chance.

"One thing I don't get."

"What?"

"If you've recognized that Captain's mark that means that he's been around long enough for someone to kill him. So why hasn't anyone buggered him off before now?"

"Maybe he slipped off the radar until he started burning those books."

"But like the Cryptarch said, they've already been burning books for a long time. Why now?" Dorian pondered

"Something in the libraries then…"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

"Shut it." Elsynn said all the cordiality gone from her voice. It was replaced by a cold razor-sharp tone that emitted an air of lethality. "Kill the engines." By the time Tax and Dorian obliged, Elsynn had deftly dismounted her sparrow and landed on her feet, Hunter's knife out. "Dorian remember, listen to whatever I or Tax tell you to do. It might just save everyone's life." Dorian nodded in affirmation but she was already gone navigation the debris to the spire. The street were all filled with all sorts of junk; vehicle husks, plants, debris and shattered ground. So to the pair of Fallen patrolling the area and the dozen or so Dregs and Vandal's guarding the door, Dorian and his fireteam was invisible.

Elsynn picked up and stone and hurled it over the head of the patrol. He followed the sound and by the time his head had faced the same direction again, Elsynn had melded unseen into the bush. Poised in the bushes, Dorian now saw that she hadn't switched to her green shaders just for the fun of it. Now he knew. Elsynn leaped out the bushes and sank her knife into the throat of the Vandal. Using the dead body as a fulcrum she swung around and threw another knife into the Dreg following it. In the space of two seconds a Fallen patrol was gone. Dorian sat, amazed at the efficient brutality Elsynn worked with. Tax tapped him on the shoulder; a signal to move on.

The three of the took up positions in a ditch with a direct line of sight to the gate, which was more of a former lobby now guarded by a dozen Dregs and Vandals. Tax's machine gun materialized in his hands the same time Elsynn pulled her _Fair and Square_ pulse rifle from behind her. "Ready?" Elsynn asked.

Tax nodded curtly and said, "Go." At which Elsynn jumped to an inhuman height Light formed in her hand in the form of a skip grenade.

"When I shoot, you shoot," Tax said to Dorian from behind him. He nodded vigorously. As soon as the skip grenade landed on the ground, the Light split off into smaller spheres that attached itself on the nearest Fallen. Then they exploded.

The dregs were ripped to shreds, but the Vandals with better armor survived. Though only to face Elsynn as she lifted her pulse rifle to her shoulder. Burst after burst tore into the surviving Vandals until they were no more and Elsynn's gun clicked empty. Which was of little consequence because by then she had slid to her knees and concealed herself behind the wreckage of a car. Dorian wondered at how well the fireteam worked and got that done with such machine-like precision.

"Shoot." Tax's machine gun fired ripped the dregs charging at him. A second later Dorian fired his pulse rifle at the dregs. "Get the Vandals. Don't let them get to their weapons." Dorian raised his pulse rifle, then pointed it at the rising Vandal. A Vandal tried to get off of its feet and grab its gun, which didn't succeed as Dorian filled him with two burst of the pulse rifle. Which was a mistake because he should have gone for the one who was closer to his weapon. He shifted his aim to the right and the gun was empty. Shite.

There was nothing Dorian could do but panic. Remembering what little training he had, he practically punched the gun trying to hit magazine ejector. When it did work and the magazine flopped out, he scrambled to get the next one. He brought it up to find it was the facing backwards. He flipped in the magazine and stuck it up the magazine well and cocked the mechanism.

He aimed once more with his rifle, the Vandal was square in his sights. But before he could pull the trigger, the Vandal exploded to the side with bullets. Dorian glanced to the his left in time to see Elsynn put away her pulse rifle and wipe away some Fallen blood of her armour. Dorian felt Tax slap his on the back. "That was well done." Which felt a little condescending—like whose little children classes where everyone was a winner.

Then, as if on cue, Elsynn chimed in. "Your reloading's a little sloppy and you could use some practice. Crucible matches are good chances to practice if you need to."

"Thanks," Dorian said but she already started walking the other way. _You asked for it. _Said the voice again

"Shut up!" He muttered.

"What?" Taxon-4 asked.

"Just talking to myself."

_Hmm, so that's what you think of me._

Elsynn continued on, her head constantly swiveling left and right, scanning what used to be a intersection for anything lurking. She seemed like she was dissecting the entire area, cutting to pieces everything, and then examining them with surgical care. She paused for a split second before she continued, "This is sniper country, move fast."

Dorian was all too happy to move when he heard the word 'sniper', quickening his pace beside the Titan as the they moved across the intersection to the Fallen base. The gate was situated on the corner of the block, in what was once a lobby, hundreds of years ago now. "Where are they?" Dorian asked quietly as if the Fallen was just waiting to hear his voice and jump on them.

"As you probably have realized, they're not very environmentally aware. Outside of their own comms, they have terrible hearing. They resupplied when they arrived at the lobby of the building.

They took some ammunition of the dead vandals. Dorian replenished his supplies as well—just the one magazine to be exact—as Elsynn and Taxon-4 examined the bodies for anything useful besides the ammunition. His Ghost conveniently had the ability to find any ammunition as long as it's of the same weapon class as Dorian's, and convert it to fit his pulse rifle. Dorian imagined that Elsynn and Tax's Ghosts were doing the same thing

"It's them alright." Elsynn reassured, stripping a patch of cloth of the Vandal armor, it was the Captain's own sign.

"These almost look separatist," Dorian thought aloud. "It was almost as if he was starting his own house."

"As if we needed Fallen houses. Atrium ahead," She said as the lobby opened up to a large atrium well lit with natural light from the glass ceiling above. Each level had an indoor balcony that ringed the perimeter over a open space was a floor below where several Fallen sat around a fire. No doubt a resting shift, Elsynn took point with Tax guarding the rear, and Dorian—still feeling inept—was torn between disappointed and happy at being placed in the middle. The protected one. But as they walked out, Dorian nearly jumped when Elsynn spun in a blur of green, and stopped with one hand extended to the space above Dorian's head. He turned and looked up just in time to see the Dreg corpse land on top of him.

_At least you muffled the fall_

"Sorry." Elsynn said quietly, as they all regrouped behind the balcony's railing. Dorian nodded, still wiping Fallen blood from parts of his armor. "How do we take this, Tax?"

"Pincer, I move in the right, you move in the left. Surround those around the fire."

"They'll be patrols all over."

"We're going to have to hit them fast. Hard and fast, then vanish." He had his machine gun out and was ready to go. "When all hell breaks loss, there are bound to be stragglers that survive. Pick em off before they get too far, or before they get to us. Stay here use the overgrowth for cover. Both Elsynn and Tax was off before Dorian could utter a word. He shouldered his rifle just in time to see Elsynn get a running start on a patrolling Vandal. She grabbed him by the mandibles then yanked him down and into the lethal embrace of her blade. Tax however was in trouble, he got jumped by a Vandal behind him. The two struggled before they went tumbling over the railing and down unto the ground floor. It was about then that all hell broke loose. The ones by the fire, turned to see the commotion. When they saw a guardian had managed to sneak into their midst, they scrambled for their weapons. Fallen began to emerge from out of nowhere, but Elsynn seemed to be concentrating on covering Tax's position. The Fallen shooters were positioned along the balcony opposite. The problem was, with her eyes down a scope, she could not have seen the Fallen gathering on the opposite balcony. So which one was it, he could warn Elsynn about the Fallen, but that meant the Fallen would get to their guns and have Tax surrounded in no time. What was he going to do? What was he—

_Calm down, stop breathing so hard, it gets in the way of your efficiency. Take the one's in the middle of the atrium. Use a Vortex grenade._

A what?

_Use the Void. _Almost instantly, he felt the Void energy filling his arms_._ As Elsynn moved to take out the Fallen on the ground floor, Dorian took action.

"Elsynn above you, opposite side," Luckily she registered, but before she could do anything else he continued, "I'll take the ones on the ground floor."

"You sure?"

Dorian felt himself moving more by instinct, it wasn't smooth but he moved nonetheless. He vaulted atop railing then pushed off it. Only when he was in the air did he begin to question the prudence of his action. _Extend your hands and push off the ground._ Dorian didn't think but listened to the voice like he did after Returning. The power in his body had increased in such a great measure he had to let some of it vent out. Then he felt his weight decrease and decrease until he was able to float to the ground like leaf. Much like he would shift his weight, he stopped the venting of that energy and shifted the focus of the energy from below him to his hand. A iridescent purple ball formed in his palm. The Fallen around the fire were scrambling for their weapons. But they were still around the fire.

_Throw it_.

Dorian did, and watched as a ball exploded into a much larger sphere that encompassed nearly all six of the Fallen sitting around the fire. He saw the Light travel from the center of the circle into each Fallen searing out the Darkness within them. They screamed in pain as the Darkness that they so keenly depended on was purged in Light. The sphere however didn't last forever, much to Dorian's disappointment. In the time it took for the Fallen to shake out their pain and look for Dorian, he had run to the side, where Tax was finishing off a Vandal with the butt of his machine gun. Dorian grabbed him and tackled them both into a corridor just as gun fire lit up the space behind them.

Tax chucked in what seemed to be genuine humor. Humor in a time like this? Tax let his Machine gun fall and phase out of reality and pulled out his auto rifle, then began to pepper the approaching Fallen with bullets. Dorian still lay on the ground breathing roughly from behind his mask.

"Quick thinking on your part Dorian!" Tax congratulated in between bursts of his auto rifle. It worked as good as anything to bring Dorian out of his trance and back on his feet. Joining Tax, he took the Pulse rifle and joined Tax, taking out the Fallen as they charged at the two. "Can you handle them down here? Elsynn looks like she could use some help."

Tax stole glance at Elsynn then said, "Go."

Dorian began to pool energy in his hand again but stopped short when the energy stopped flowing. Dorian recoiled in surprised.

_The Light comes through destroying the Darkness, it's flows as Darkness is destroyed. _"Basically killing the Fallen allows for More Light?" _Yes._ _Think of it as balancing scale. Less Darkness allows for more Light._ "And I've started talking to myself." _Technically yes, and no. _

Dorian began to pool more energy and venting it below him, which took significantly less power than it creating a Vortex grenade did. He arrived at the balcony directly below the Fallen. He looked at Elsynn who was reloading from behind the railing as it crumbled. I toggled my comms, "Elsynn, I'm directly below them can you force them into cover?" I pulled out a new magazine and situated myself below the Fallen above.

"Give me a sec'." The Elsynn popped over her cover with a weapon he had never seen before. It glowed for a short time before releasing burst a continuous spray of charged rounds. She systematically repeated the process several times. "They're behind cover." Dorian raised his rifle and prayed his plan would work. It did. He pulled hit trigger in several quick successions, the rounds pierced through the ceiling and into the Fallen above them. He didn't know if he had hit anything until he heard the pained scream of a Vandal. At which he ejected his spent magazine, and replaced it with a fresh one, and then continued spraying bullets with gusto.

He saw Elsynn's hand grow bright blue with Light, and saw her toss over a ball of bright glowing blue. As it struck the target it exploded and energy forked left and right like lightning—hitting the Fallen in every direction. Their bodies fell, crispy hunks of their former bodies. What the hell was that? _Next to Warlocks, Hunters are pretty flashy in their offensive. _Dorian wondered if he ever could. _You will be able to do something equally devastating—and much, much more mad._

"Nice work, Warlock. Tax, they know we're here now."

"That means hurry right?" Dorian asked.

"I've found and emergency staircase here. Move on to the second floor then we continue upwards."

"Well done helping Elsynn, by the way," Tax said as they regrouped on the second floor. Dorian smiled inwardly, as they continued up the stairs through the building. "The way is blocked." Tax remarked on the collapsed section of the stairs they encountered twelve flights up. "We're going to have to find our own path up."

"With the building being disintegrated as it is, we can find a weak section we can punch through." Elsynn suggested.

Dorian added, "Or an entire section that's been blown away."

"This might be a good opportunity to get your shotgun out Dorian."

The cracked the door down and stepped into what was once a maze of office cubicles. Tax was on point, body swiveling as he made his way across the floor. Luckily there had been a corner of the building that had been blown away. It looked more like an long-gone aircraft had crash-landed there, leaving a significant dent in the building. A dent that covered two floors which allowed the three of them access up to the level above. Dorian was rearmost, and though it took him a moment to realize his role, he began to assume it immediately. He carefully scanned the rear as they made their way to the gap. Tax gave Elsynn a boost up, then she began to recon the area above, immediately vanishing from view. Dorian climbed unto Tax's hand and was halfway up to the next level, when a high powered rifle's bark shattered the silence.

The silence was not the only thing that was shattered, Dorian's armor was too. He felt pain spatter across his entire left side, the shards of broken steel and cloth digging into the flesh trying to stop the force of the impact, but breaking up in the end. Across the street rooftops lit up with gun fire. Though none of those shots connected, the next sniper fire did, Tax grunted as the high power round hit him. The bullet broke upon impact with the high-grade Titan armor, but the force of it jarred him none the less. The high-rise structure rose a good two floors above nearly every building around them. While it was a good vantage point and gave them high ground, it made them a very convenient target.

"Shit!" Dorian heard Elsynn shout, her pulse rifle followed almost immediately. She dropped back down, "It's a trap, I knew this path was too convenient. They must have set it up as an ambush." The ruins around them began to disintegrate and light up with sparks and ricochets, slowly but surely encroaching them. Though Dorian was listening, he was barely in any condition to say or do anything about it. His armor was regrowing, but he knew he was bleeding badly. Reaching to touch his wounded side, his hand came back wet with red. Elsynn swore once more when she saw Dorian, she turned him to the side and examined the wound quickly, for she had to return to standing and beating back the Fallen coming from above. No doubt it wouldn't be long till the stairs were filling up with Fallen eager to get up to them and push them off the side of the building. Dorian began to feel lightheaded. Any attempt to fully get a grip of himself slipped away. So this way what blood loss actually felt like. After all the initial pain passed, it was just like drowsing off.

"Tax's he's too far gone." Elsynn said. "And they're not stopping ever." Dorian' skin crawled, what the hell was "too far gone" supposed to mean? "We need the shield, now."

"Throwing it up now." Despite his pain and wish to leave the battlefield behind, he felt rather than saw Light pool around them. The energy then went specifically to Tax, who glowed with the Light. A purple sphere formed in his hand then it expanded to encompass all three of them. And for a moment there was peace. The hectic battle faded away as sound was muffled. Dorian felt his pain wash away. His side—seizing in agony—had slowly relaxed. Elsynn and Tax all reloaded their weapons and took a deep breath. Their weapons weren't firing, and no bullets were hitting them. At first he thought that his senses had finally given away to the blood loss. But then noticed the side of his body that had been obliterated by the sniper round had closed and scabbed over. His armor grew to cover his wounds quickly after. Soon his pain was gone and his armor hardly showed damage it had sustained.

And power was flowing into him. Light and Void Energy filled him quicker then he could have done by himself. So much power he felt like laughing. Whatever this sphere was, it didn't only protect them, it heightened their abilities. Fallen had emerged from the staircase to kick them off the building, but Dorian was on his feet and ready.

_Allow the power Void to fill you. Wield it!_

Dorian began to pool the massive amount of energy coursing through his body, in his hand just like he had in that first day of Returning. Elsynn had started to firing once more, pushing the fallen back to as far back as the mouth of the staircase and relaying to Dorian that Tax's shield wasn't going to stay up forever. And he got the message. "Elsynn push them back as far as the door, I'll handle them."

"Are you sure?"

He let his hand light up with Void Energy as an answer. The Shield dropped. And Dorian charged. Leaping into the air, he threw the massive ball of energy down into the staircase and watched as the Darkness was burned away by the light. At the center of the blast all the Fallen had disintegrated away, at the edges the Fallen were blasted back by the sheer force of the explosion. Then the staircase, already weakened by the partial collapse above, fell to pieces. The remaining Fallen echoed desperation for the short time they had, then the rubble buried them. He watched as a Vortex of Void energy swirled momentarily before dissipating.

He was completely drained of his Light. And that urged him to get even more. "Tax give me a boost!" The Titan complied immediately.

"Carve us a path!" Then he pushed Dorian up as he pulled out his Shotgun and blasted away the dreg unfortunate enough to be in his way. He felt the force behind Tax's voice, like the exo had more confidence in Dorian now. All the Fallen on that floor had the misfortune of being there with Dorian as he was on fire. The next dreg also fell with half a face left. The cubicles allowed for plenty of cover and the low walls were the perfect labyrinthine cover.

Upon returning to the crumbling corner, he saw Tax had his machine gun out and was giving suppressive fire for Elsynn. She turned to turned to him and asked. "Help me up!" Dorian lowered his hand and lifted Elsynn up unto the next level. Elsynn had her rifle off her back and began peppering the enemy as Tax jumped all by himself, and pulled himself up, nearly all by himself.

"That Captain knows we're here." Tax said. "Which gives a 50-50 chance that either he has chosen to stand his ground or flee for his life. We have to hurry either way and salvage whatever element of surprise we have left."

Dorian was all too ready for him to say that and was off the second he finished talking. "I guess he's taking point." Tax said. Without a word Elsynn followed after Dorian. Once he got to the stairs he could see how the Fallen had deliberately detonated some parts of the staircase. Their little route made a good choke point. When he was at the top of the stairs, a giant black ball with a glowing purple eye that loomed over the level turned towards him. It emanated with energy, which meant the moment it saw Dorian, he knew to jump out of the way. He hid back at the stairwell, the stairs above them had all completely collapsed. End of the line, yet another choke point.

"Servitors," Elsynn cried out and fired as much bullets as she possible could at the Servitor before ducking out of cover. A ball of energy shot out of its singular eye and exploded on impact.

"What the hell is that?"

"They're robots, AIs created by the Fallen from the Darkness," His ghost answered his mostly rhetorical question.

"They're also nasty bastards." Elsynn popped out of cover and fired several more round down the line. Each shot from the Servitor jarred all of his muscles and showered them with rubble. The wall between them didn't look like it could take that sort of punishment forever. "Dorian give me covering shots, to the eye, stagger it! Go!"

Dorian took little time to fully register the message, at which point he began to fire blindly around his cover. It must have alarmed the servitor somehow since it stopped firing. Seizing the moment, he popped around his cover and focused his fire on the large servitor floating two feet above the ground. Tax joined him in the effort.

He felt rather than saw Elsynn rush past him in a rapid dash and then slide into cover—she seemed very nimble that way. In her hand was an Arcbolt grenade, pulsing with energy. She lobbed it over and he watched at the Arc lightning forked one way and another. After the unforgiving blast of Arc energy, Dorian and Tax increased their fire power—the servitor exploded into fragments of itself.

"Where there is a Servitor, a Archon Priest will not be far off." Elsynn observed as he jogged her way around the entire structure. "It seems like they've hollowed out most of the building from this point on, improvised on the ruins to make stairs."

"Only several levels left, let's finish this." Taxon-4 exclaimed, making no attempt to hide his enthusiasm. Those levels however, were packed with Fallen. Dorian gave suppressing fire, while Tax and Elsynn took point most of the time. They directed where he should throw his grenades—using the damaging circumference of the Vortex grenades to control the flow and ebb of battle. He wasn't making any large progress, however, the three steadily gained ground. He must have downed at least a dozen Fallen.

The top of the spire was a uniquely well kept section of the area. It looked as if it was regularly cleaned of debris. A throne sat in the middle of them room, decorated with human skulls and pieces of Guardian armor. The travesty filled Dorian with disgust. Sure enough, by the Captain's side, was a Priest. Energy surrounded him, Dorian could feel the disturbance of energy in the place. This Fallen was strong in the Darkness. "Right then, let's take him!" Out of the priest's hands shot out bolts of Energy. Vandals and Dregs dropped down from the ceiling and formed a line of defense around the Priest while he fired and led the long range offense. It forced the three out of the Captain's "throne room". They lacked cover and enemy fire was heavy. "Dorian, can you summon another Nova Bomb?" Asked Elsynn as she drew he blade.

"If I can down another few Fallen, I have vortex grenade ready now if you'd like."

"Tax, how is your Ward of Dawn?"

"Still not enough Light to pull that off." He spoke in between bursts of his auto rifle "But I have Suppressor Grenade ready anytime you need it. Thinking of clearing a path to the Captain?"

"The Captain I can handle, it that Priest that worries me. If he summons Servitors in this tight of space we're screwed."

Dorian strained his ears to listen to what Elsynn was saying above the barrage of gunfire both sides threw at each other. Another blast from the Priest forced Dorian back behind cover, his armor unable to recover as fast as the Fallen were hurting it. Dorian swore. "If I can throw the Vortex grenade, maybe it'll grant me enough Light for a Nova Bomb."

"Are you sure?" Elsynn asked.

"Not really." Dorian admitted. She looked as if she was weighing the decision, her mask and thoughtful silence made the whole deal seem more and more enigmatic.

"Elsynn?" Tax asked. She thought for a second.

"I'm bladedancing. I'll need that suppressor grenade."

"You got it."

"Dorian, throw your Vortex now, and down as many of them as you can." She Shouted to him, then charged head on into the fray. Dorian thought she was mad until Tax threw his Suppressor grenade. Which rendered all the Fallen's equipment obsolete. Before She would hit the enemy line, Dorian tossed a grenade into the Fallen lines. The line faltered slightly when the grenade detonated but it was nothing compared to what happened next.

Her figure lit up in blue, her blade was a blur. It emitted blue light that was nearly blinding. She didn't even flinch as jumped up and landed right in the middle of the Vandals and Dregs. Dorian couldn't see what happened, but the bright flashes of blue was all the indication he needed. The Priest was unable to do anything, having been suppressed by Tax's grenade, as his lines of defense shattered before him. Dorian could see now, what she meant to do. The lines would part and they would scatter; leaving the Priest and only a handful of Fallen around him. Light filled him.

He ran towards the Priest, as Elsynn cut Fallen around her to pieces. A blast of Void energy caught a dreg as it got his Dorian's way. The Light within him grew ever stronger as the Darkness faded. He focused the Light into his right hand. Void energy lit up around him, like a predator growled as it was unleashed. Dorian jumped upwards and then looked down at the Priest. It had gained its powers back again, but it could not hide the panic in its face as it looked at Dorian's figure alight.

He focused all his power then jettisoned it downwards at the Priest. The Fallen around him began to scramble but it was too late. The Nova Bomb tore them to pieces. The teleported to the side just in time. And survived. Had it been a second later, it would have joined it comrades in their ashen state. Dorian landed in time to see the priest, though weakened by the blast, enter a battle posture. It was hurt, which made it all the more angry, and while Dorian's rifle was till slung across his back, all the priest already had his hand on his weapon and had pulled it out. Shite.

Then it's shields visibly rippled under Tax's volley. It wasn't going to be enough, though. It turned and fired it's weapon at the more immediate threat. Behind the Priest, Elsynn had her knife in her hand and was running to him.

"Elsynn!" Dorian yelled. "Catch!" He filled his arm with whatever Light was left in him, then sent a wave of void energy into the Priest. His body jolted backwards, into the air, and unto Elsynn's Blade. She twisted her knife and the priest flinched a final time before dying.

Good riddance.

Dorian looked across the entire room, the Captain was gone. "He's gone. Bloody coward."


	5. Leap of the Faithless

**Author's Note: This one's shorter than the usual. But that's about all I have to say. Hope you enjoy this one. **

Chapter 5: Leap of the Faithless

"He couldn't have gotten far." Tax glanced in a circle and spotted a bolt hole behind the throne, "Through there!" Tax commanded, Elsynn was onto it first. Her nimble figure leapt into a run. Dorian followed, making sure his pulse rifle was ready for anything that might take the opportunity to jump them. It wasn't far, they climbed up another level before saw him around a crate, typing in codes. It raised it weapon to fire, but Elsynn was faster, her first three bursts staggered the Fallen and made it dropped its weapon. She moved for the killing blow but Tax stopped her.

"Wait." Tax tossed another suppressor grenade behind him to make sure the Fallen Captain didn't do anything stupid, while Elsynn knocked it down and stood over it with her rifle poised over the thing's head. Dorian followed suit and made sure to kick the Captain's weapon away and deprive it of its knives. The thing roared and snarled at the two of them.

_Listen!_ The voice spoke up again. Dorian nearly flinched again this time, but he was watching the captain too closely. _Listen!_ Listen? To what? _The Fallen._

It kept snarling and made growling sounds at the three. Elsynn kept her rifle trained at its head and stayed stoic. Her focused seemed unbroken. Tax examined the crate the Captain was dealing with opening it and looking through it. The Captain growled once more. Dorian, however, strained his ears.

"_Thane said I was safe! Gave me enough followers and finance to set up a small kingdom. My own house too, if I was here long enough! Then you lot had to come and muck it all up."_ The Captain said.

"_What the hell are you talking about?"_ Dorian asked, before he knew what he was doing.

"_Ah, an _intelligent_ Guardian, I didn't think you existed."_

"_Shut it. Same Question, you four armed freak." _Dorian snapped back.

"_You're one to talk. Two arms? Disgraceful!"_

"Dorian what the hell are you doing?" Elsynn asked distractedly.

"Talking to it. Can't you understand?""

"Talking to it? Dorian, no guardian has spoken to a Fallen in Decades. How did you—"

"I don't know, but I just did. And I think I still am now."

"_Did no one ever told you it's impolite to speak gibberish in front someone else? Then again you _are_ Guardians… I'd be surprised if any Guardian had manners."_

"_Shut it!" Dorian snapped._

"This crate is filled with books. _Books._" Tax emphasized.

"What? I thought he burned them for fun." Elsynn said. "What's he doing with a crateful of books."

"I don't know." Tax said, "But all these books have library numbers that correlate to each of burned libraries. But we're missing some big connection—"

"_What were you doing in those libraries, you freak!" _Dorian said, continuing to speak in Fallen tongue.

"_No introductions? Guardian manners must really be, truly nonexistent are they?"_

"_Tell me now, Fallen, or I'll blow your head off."_

"_I have a name! And it's Tarkhin, you barbaric two-arm."_ The Fallen shook his head and eased himself up halfway._ "I thought I could take some of human literature with me. You know as souvenirs from each burning. Don't you just live the smell of burnt paper in the morning?"_

"_Bullshit. If I didn't know any better, you were sent to do this weren't you?"_ It's glare flinched. _"Who was it? Was it Thane?" _What came next was truly inexplicable snarl, _"Forgot that I could understand you, did you now?"_

The Captain snarled twice, though there was considerable silence between them two. _"He told me to fetch those specific books. He sent me a specific list of them. Told me if I got them for him, any library I reached I could call my own turf. He also told me I should burn them to cover my tracks and so none would realize they were missing. He even said he's keep you lot off my back."_

"He said someone hired him to steal the books." Dorian explained reverting back to English.

"Did he tell you what for? Or why?" Tax asked.

"Should we even trusts him," Elsynn cut in.

"Well, we have no other leads," Dorian explained, and turned back to the Fallen,

"_Why did he sent you here? What did he want with the books?"_

"_I don't know, I didn't ask. Something about requiring lost knowledge. He said he was too busy to get them. So I would get them for him and burn everything else, make it look like I was any other Captain._ _Then I would send the books to him, and collect my pay. That was the extent of our agreement_._"_

"_Why would I believe anything you just said?"_

"_Why would I lie?"_ Dorian shifted his aim and released a burst into the ground next of the Captain's head. It jumped out of it's own skin and snarled at Dorian.

"_What the hell? I told you the fucking truth. Damn it, why would I lie to you?"_

"I don't think he's lying." Dorian said, without taking his eyes off the Fallen captain.

"You actually understood him?" Tax said sounding impressed. "Wow. You are something."

"Thanks." Dorian replied feeling somewhat better about himself.

"What do we do now?"

"I suggest we pack the books and go." Elsynn said as she trained her rifle on the Fallen Captain. "And off with his head."

Before she could do anything else however, Elsynn's ghost phased into vision in the midst of them, "Can you hear that?" it asked urgently.

"Skiff!" Tax said. The massive ship emerged from above rapidly. Two pikes disengaged from it and began strafing runs. Tarkhin, vanished in a flash of blue. "Damn it."

"_I appear to have been stalling." _Said, Tarkhin's voice over a loudspeaker._ "I'm sorry, but you did trash my tower and nearly destroyed my chance at payment. And I'm afraid I'll have to take those books."_ The crates to vanished in flash of blue._ "And I will have to kill you."_

"_Not if can't help it." _Dorian replied, "Elsynn do you still have those rockets?" He turned to see Elsynn had already pulled it out.

"Way ahead of you Dorian." Three rockets zoomed out of the barrel and hit the side of the Skiff. The Pikes swung back around and began to assault the tower more aggresively. The Skiff launched missiles from her underside which struck made the entire tower shudder when it hit.

"Tax, how long till our jumpships are in range?" Dorian asked.

"Ten seconds." The tower shuddered under the force of a third explosion and he felt it begin lean. "Get ready to leave off." He yelled, competing it the moan and groan of the collapsing structure. His machine gun spat bullets out at the pikes as they circled the building, making strafing runs.

"Wait!" Dorian's ghost appeared. "Stay a while and I can still make a copy of the books he got."

"I'm staying!" Dorian yelled out as in the distance, the jumpships came into view.

"What?" Elsynn asked incredulous. "You're going to get killed." She said with the slow pace you use to explain to a child how stupid they are being.

"My Ghost can still get those books."

"I need a moment to copy the codes from the Skiffs' computer's teleporting routines," The ghost began to sound panicky itself. He could hear the building's concrete walls tear underneath the pressure of the crumbling building.

"The ships are here! Dorian, it isn't worth it!"

"Wait, damn it!" He crouched by the edge and fired at an incoming Pike. It didn't kill it but it veered off course in a shower of sparks. A fifth missile shook the throne room directly below. And the throne floor began to crumbled unto the floor below, then down again and down again. Creating a chain reaction that would completely demolish the foundations of the building in seconds "Dorian! We. Have. To. GO!"

"Alright," he said with relenting tone

Elsynn teleported back to her ship, but Tax vanished next. "Ghost, disconnect me form Elsynn's ship."

"Done." The ghost said. "I'm almost done here." The ghost noted. Dorian raised his rifle and fired at an incoming Pike, its windshield shattered in sparks and blood. But it was still headed straight for the tower—right to where Dorian was standing. "Almost done!" The ghost said.

"How far can we get before you lose track of that skiff."

"A hundred metres may be two."

"Can you transmit it to Tax as soon as it's finished?"

"Yes."

"Can you do it even when I'm dead?"

"Yes. Wait what?" The Pike wasn't headed anywhere else, Dorian shot at the charging skiff again, but the thing was stubbornly stuck in its own kamikaze run.. "Two hundred metres? Bugger it." The Pike was about five metres from hitting the building when Dorian leapt.

"Oh Dear," the ghost said, his voice awfully flat.

As the tower behind him exploded, Dorian whooshed through the air. He vented Void energy below him and he proceeded upwards for some time before it wore out.

Then he was plummeted.

"Oh Dear." Now, its voice was inflected. Though ever-so-slightly.

It was a strange feeling. Like he had been there before. In this state of falling. His stomach lurched and danced around and Dorian was thankful all he had for breakfast was a candy bar and a glass of water. Then his descent halted, and he felt every nerve in his body tingle and bite. Then he was back in his seat, inside Elsynn's Jumpship. The landing must have been softened, since he didn't smash into the seat, but it jarred him nonetheless. He took a deep breath and looked out the window of the Javelin. Far below Tarkhin's tower smoked. Then it collapsed, slowly it seemed at that distance. Also magnificently.

"Please tell me you got the books."

"They're scrambled and fragmented but I have them." Dorian could finally breathe easy. "Thanks for the save, by the way!" He said, truly grateful for Elsynn's attempt to save him. She made no reply. Dorian got the idea that she wasn't very happy with him.


	6. Direction

**Author's Note: Took some liberty with the geography of the Tower. Though not much. The amount of school work I have to do also means that the time between chapters might lag in the coming weeks. Wish me luck. I hope you enjoy this one. Reviews Please!**

Chapter 6: Direction

It turns out, Elsynn _was_ unhappy with Dorian. As soon as they landed on the Tower's main terrace and Dorian took off his helmet—eager for fresh air—he received a slap instead. With gloves on too.

"You idiot! There's already too few of us as it is. You can't just go around jumping off a three hundred metre drop!"

"Actually it was closer to two hundred."

Second slap.

"If you wanna go out there and get yourself killed, then go ahead and do it on some other Fireteam, or go charging out into the Darkness by yourself. Don't drag us into this."

She turned on her feet and stormed silently off. A handful of Guardians who were there watched in interested silence, as soon as Dorian looked they walked awkwardly away. "She's had it rough, Dorian." Tax said, putting his hand on Dorian's shoulder turned Dorian so that they both faced each other. "And you were very stupid. You need to take it easy. We wouldn't have gained anything if you were dead."

"You would have gained those stolen books."

"You think a crate of books for the life of a Guardian is a fair trade? I can't think of anything worth the life of a Guardian."

"But I succeeded nonetheless."

"Because Elsynn saved you. I thought you were right behind us, and was already strapped in along with Elsynn when she alerted me. She panicked."

"Elsynn panicking?" Dorian said with an incredulous smile.

Tax gave him a stern look, "It's not funny. I've heard her panic before, and the circumstances of that situation were… _complicated_. She immediately descended back down when she realized, and caught you _as you fell_. The calculations alone would have been incredibly complex. Don't use this one time you survived as an excuse to continue on stupid behavior. You got that?" Dorian nodded. "Good, I'm going to see Commander Zavela, I need to brief him on the situation. You ought to get some rest. And get yourself some new armor. Ikora Rey should have your glimmer."

"Sleep in a time like this? After what we've seen on Venus, we need to alert the Vanguards."

"And I will, I'm an exo Dorian, I don't need to sleep and you do." Dorian opened his mouth to counter—"Just do it…"

Dorian finally relented and walked over to his Tower residence, the room had been cleaned and the sheet cleaned. A display on the wall mentioned the time and the amount of rent he had to pay. He already did two jobs, a couple of patrols to acquaint himself with the new world, and his powers. He obtained a number of glimmer—apparently the new human currency—and Elsynn's old pulse rifle. Most of his powers appeared while on Venus. It had been a pretty good few days.

He operated the touch screen interface on his nightstand, paying for a tenth of the month's rent. Leaving him with enough glimmer to buy some new armor. Preferably something that wasn't in the pitiful shade of bright red he had now. Maybe some new weapons too.

His ghost dematerialized his armor, and rematerialized them in his closet. He changed his undergarments and then laid in bed, noticing that the sun had just risen. He looked at the time. 0930 hours. Morning then not evening as he had thought. Interplanetary travel was disorienting. At least now he knew where East and West were. His Ghost zipped by the windows and then operated the shutters, enveloping the room in near darkness. He thanked it then relaxed his head atop the pillow, and then was asleep before the minute was out.

-x-x-x-

_I readjusted the bag up my shoulder. It was getting heavy, perhaps he should have left his book out of his carry-on list. Stupid. No matter. I walked through the extender down to the plane, which was waiting for me on the tarmac. Well waiting for me would have been too egotistical a term, waiting for its passengers then. I glanced out the window, where was I? Oh yes of course an airport. _

_I headed for the door and took my earphones off, I needed to listen to the flight. Attendant from now on. "Can I see you ticket sir?" I handed her my ticket. "Mr. Dorian Crane. 43A?" I nodded. "That way sir. Just beyond the wing."_

"_Thank you." I said and then went on my way. I found my seat at 43A when was about to put my backpack on the overhead luggage compartment. When I lost my balance, Damn it that was too many books. I nearly lost grip of my backpack had it not been for the man next to me who caught it and helped me up. It was my brother._

-x-x-x-

Dorian woke up to sound of his alarm, notifying him that he had slept well past the seven hours he planned to sleep. The clock told him it was nearly half past six. His tousled hair was now a must a messy tangle of black. Time for a shower. The shower stall was clean and simplistic, glass box with a metal floor. The water was warm and comforting. He thanked whoever left the whole set of toiletries, he guessed that no Guardian ever Returned with a full luggage. He dried and as he exited the shower took a long look at himself. His medium length black hair was heavy with water. They would usually be a little more rigid and upright, but for now it sagged around his head.

His upper body had a number of bruises after their missions. And even though he had been healed pretty well under Tax's Ward of Dawn shield, his left side where the sniper hit had been left with quite the scar. He took a closer look at his face—the first time he did since Returning. He was slightly older than he felt, his eyes also appeared more tired. Possibly the exertion from the missions taking their toll. Stubble had begun to form on his chin and his jaws, and there were dark circles around his eyes. The sun was low in the sky outside, the low light and his high cheek bones cast a prominent shadow across his face. He looked at his face for some time. Then it moved.

_Are you really going to be a narcissist now? _His reflection said. Dorian literally jumped and moved away from the mirror in shook. "What the fuck?"

_So surprised, you've been listening to me all this time. and _now_ you freak out?_ The reflection moved on its own accord, spoke with its own voice.

"For the record I've been freaking out ever since day one. Who—or rather what are you?"

_You don't know? Well neither do I?_ His reflection took a step forward. A puppet moving without storings._ I'm within you. I look like you. But am I _you_?_

Dorian took a deep breath then blinked, and his reflection returned… to being _his_ reflection. What the hell was happening to me, he asked himself.

He materialized his Ghost and put on his clothes. "I'm pretty sure there's a place where I can get a good drink around here right?"

"Yes there are several bars here in the tower and in the city."

"Ghost am I crazy?"

"I… have no reason to doubt your sanity."

_Not the answer you were looking for is it?_ Dorian flinched and spun on his feet looking at his reflection and around him for the source of that voice.

"… until now." His ghost finished unsurely. Dorian smiled uncomfortably at it. He didn't even know he tried to save face, that Ghosts weren't human. They didn't think the same way. Every interaction he has had with it so far had supported the theory. Despite all that however, Dorian had to admit it was good sometimes to have company.

_I'm not company?_

No, Dorian thought. He walked out of his room and locked the room behind him. He had no other clothes excepting his undergarments. And though there seemed to be no particular dress code from traveling around the tower, wearing anything other than Guardian armor seemed less than appropriate. During his walk from his room which was located in a set of buildings just beyond the gate near Tower North, he couldn't help but look at his reflection with slight paranoia. Every time he passed a puddle or pane of glass, he expected his reflection to do something. Speak, or move on it's own accord. Or dance for all he cared.

But it never did.

Wandering up the steps from Tower North, he arrived on Tower Watch just as the sun began to set. The sky was a mix of lavender clouds and soft golden sunlight. He walked up to the railing and took a moment to soak in the scene, there were other Guardians too. Friends talking to one another or, just like Dorian, just enjoying view. A couple giggled not too far away from Dorian as they flirted with one another. Dorian had been so freaked out by his encounter with his reflection that he did not recall his dream until now. He wondered about his family, his brother, his parents, did he have a relationship with anyone? He imagined he was too young to have been married—it didn't completely exclude marriage from the realm of possibility but Dorian stayed away from the idea. So did he leave a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter, behind?

They were all dead now. And he is all that is left of that family. Crane! That was his name once. Dorian Crane, strangely that name felt foreign to his mouth. "So Ghost where to?"

"There's a bar down by the Hangar and also another one by the Travelers Walk. And a handful more in the City, if you fancy a trip down there."

"I think I'll stay here. And I prefer not being by large roaring engines as I drink to relax. The one by the Traveler's Walk then." Making his way through the hall of Guardians, he arrived to the sound of music and chatter of talking.

"I may also have forgotten to mention that this it's quite close to the cafeteria. Which is on the opposite side of it." Dorian hadn't had much of an opportunity to explore the Tower as of yet. It seemed bright and homey. Whoever designed the place didn't just want the Tower to be utilitarian. They sure did put in a lot of work into the aesthetics of the Tower. The Hall of Guardian's mesh of wood and metal gave it a cozy feel. The Traveler's Walk had a park-like feel to it. There a stone walkway running across the middle of it, the stone rose just barely above stillwater pond. Grass filled most of the ground except the for the edges which were lined pavement with pillars that rose fifteen metres above the ground. Between said pillars were vendors, various tents and buildings that extended further into the interior. The Bar his ghost mentioned was apparently a tent with a great many seats around a U-shaped counter. There must have been close to three dozen Guardians coming and going. It apparently catered to every taste, coffee to scotch to goat milk. This really did seem like a good place.

Until he saw Elsynn sitting at one end of the counter. He was already at the edge of the diamond shaped space the tent shaded, but she hasn't seen him yet. Perhaps drinking next to some roaring warp engines would be such a bad idea.

"Oh look there's Elsynn." Said his Ghost. "And her Ghost too! I'll flag her down."

"There's really no need—" The floating devil grew alight in blue, and he could see on the other end of the bar-slash-tent, Elsynn's ghost glowed with similar enthusiasm. Whoever programmed these things really failed to understand humans higher functions. Elsynn caught sight of him and then waved him over with a genuine smile. She wasn't angry then. At least not any more.

"Sleeping beauty… awake at last."

"You knew I was asleep?"

"Popped by your room earlier but your ghost told me you were sleeping."

"A no one thought to tell me that," Dorian tossed a sideways glare at the floating devil.

"Yeah, apparently not. But hey, about before… I need to apologize. For freaking out." She examined her face and her eyes widened for a second. "And hitting you, quite harshly by the look of it." Her head tilted, as if to examined the cheek she hit earlier.

Dorian felt a spike of alarm and self-awareness. "Is it bad?"

"I think it's starting to show, you didn't look in the mirror? Every guardian has one in their rooms."

"I didn't think to look." Dorian remembered the disturbing experience and then pushed the memories further back out of his mind. Pretty lady. Conversation. Descent into insanity really not a priority right now. "And uh, I guess I owe you an apology as well. For not listening, and being stupid, and jumping to my death… for a crate of books."

"No hard feelings then?"

"Well you did hit me with _combat gloves _on… I'll settle for a drink" She nodded in concordance. "What's good around here?"

"Depends on what you want. Well, in my opinion, you came on the wrong day. Terra-566 makes one hell of a martini," she pointed at the Frame serving Guardians on the far end of the counter. "But Candor-899 serves the best coffee you'll ever find it the City, and he's not here today. Serves at a big cafe down in the City. Yeah he's that good. But he feels a certain obligation to split his time between being down there in the City and up here serving at the _Haven_." She waved Terra-566 over. "I'll have another martini, please."

"Can I get you anything, Guardian?"

"Do gin and tonics still exist?"

"If you mean can I make one? Yes, of course I can."

"One please." The frame went away and started to make the drink as well as taking other orders. "Amazing, a hundred of years of history and the Gin and Tonic concept has survived."

"Good to know you come from a time when Gin and Tonics still exist. And it's been much longer than _a hundred_ years."

"University memories are still stuck in there. Good to know the sublime concept of a G&T aren't lost forever."

"University?" Elsynn asked, like the thing was a foreign concept to her.

"You know… School? It's like at advanced form of education."

A expression of annoyance flashed across her face, "Yes I know what an University is. But your memories… they seem to be returning fast."

"Faster than usual?"

"Took me a whole year before they made any sense, before they became anything more than fragments. Most of them come in dreams."

"Mine aren't complete. Just fragments of information. It's frustrating not knowing what to do with all this information or how to fit it all together. It feels like…" Dorian searched for the right words, while Terra-566 came with their drinks.

"Being told to piece a puzzle without the bigger picture. I know what it feels like. Most of them return in dreams too so I don't know which one is real which one isn't."

"If you don't mind me asking, who were you prior to becoming a Hunter?"

"That's Badass hunter to you!" She took a big gulp of her drink. "If memory serves, I was a pilot. Can't remember where, when, or for what faction even, but it was on earth. Large battle over a place called Europe. Then my entire flight squadron bit the dust. Not sure if they all really did die, but I sure did. My entire starboard side blown to shit, the entire thing just spun out of control. Then the plane just disintegrated. It happened so fast I didn't get the time to safely eject out of my plane. I hit the ground then I woke up to my Ghost telling me to run to the nearest house and wait there for Guardian patrol."

"Is that why you prefer to fly your jumpship manual as opposed to having your Ghost do the work?"

"There are some things you shouldn't trust that thing to do, even it was forged from the Traveler's light itself." She took another sip, "You?"

"I didn't die in combat unfortunately. I think it was very early on too. I don't know when, but the world was very different then and now. I was going somewhere. I think on a plane, then the next thing I know I'm falling to my death. You can say I'm quite familiar with the falling-to-my-death concept." He took a sip of the Gin and Tonic, perfect. Great place, good drink, a conversation that was actually going somewhere. His Ghost could not have picked a better time to ruin things.

"Dorian, your presence is required at the Hall of Guardians. The Speaker and the Vanguards want to see you." It vanished out of the air as quickly as it appeared.

"That floating devil."

"That's a lot better than what I've called my Ghost, but I _have_ lived longer. I'm pretty sure you'll one day get to yell five syllable expletives at it." She finished her drink, "We should go quickly. Knowing, Tax's he's probably already there. My best guess is that Tax has finished retelling today's events, and they're going to wanna' see those books."

She was right. The moment the formalities and greetings were done and disposed of, they went straight to the point. Elsynn's expression was one of I-told-you-so. "Dorian," The Speaker said, "I understand that you found something back on Venus of great value."

"And went to an extra ordinary length to obtain it." Cayde-6 added, he sounded amused and impressed.

"Don't encourage him, Cayde." Ikora chided. "One stupid behavior once in a while is bad enough."

"Once in a while?" Dorian asked, slightly offended, and also checking how many mistakes he had since he came here.

"Yes, once in a while would be very nice, but you are a Guardian and Warlock at that. In the end, curiosity and trouble often comes hand in hand." Ikora Rey gave a cryptic smile.

"If we could get to what we all came here for, please? Thank you." The Speaker intervened. "Taxon-4 here tells me that you and your ghost intercepted the teleport codes of the books from the Fallen Skiff."

"Yes sir, My Ghost tells me that the information is scrambled and fragmented, but we did get them."

"Wonderful, if they have been broken down, I will then make sure that they are decoded and interpreted. The Cryptarchs and I will like to see you after this for the data. I also which to congratulate you, you are the first Guardian ever to speak Fallen tongue in nearly half a century." The Speaker said with a grateful tone.

"I sort of… spoke on accident sir. I really shouldn't take that much credit."

"Nonsense. I will very much like to see your proficiency and use of these language skills. However, I have a new assignment for you." Already? "Something has happened on the Moon." The light congratulatory tone he had vanished, a dark one took it's place. Nearly an entire team of Guardians went down. And we have reason to believe that this is connected to the man you call Thane, whoever he maybe."

"Or she." Ikora Rey added.

"Or it!" Cayde-6 chimed in.

"This one you call Thane however, he seems to have some sort of control over Guardians. At this point we also don't know if the cooperation on part of Guardians, if any, are willing or forced. But at this point the amount of people I trust to get this job done dwindles down to the Vanguards. And they trust you," He said to Elsynn and Tax, before turning to Dorian, "and you apparently have a clean slate. As dangerous as it may be to send you into the field to do such tremendous tasks, it may be even more dangerous to send someone who might already be in league with this Thane character. We know that he was two maybe three guardians in his pocket. Maybe even more, and they may be walking the halls this very moment." It was then Dorian realized the Hall of Guardians had been cleared out and its door closed.

"What do you want us to do?" Elsynn asked, going straight to the point.

"This incident on the Moon." Cayde-6 replied. "A Fireteam was nearly wiped out, by _Guardians_." A wave of incredulous expressions on Tax and Elsynn's part told Dorian this was no trifle matter. So an enemy Guardian was foreign thing. "When you connect the dots, there is something on the Moon that Thane might be interested it. We want you to investigate it. He was concerned with the location's security. A Warlock, Bell-17, was the only one to survive the ambush on his Fireteam. After Bell-17 escaped, he suspects that they packed up and left. We may be late, but we may also have evaded further conflict and loss. Bell-17 reported a large numbers of Hive in the area and a sizable number of Vex units."

"A Guardian spy? Perhaps but, Guardians killing Guardians

"Vex? On the moon?" Elsynn asked, Dorian got the idea that the Vex weren't supposed to be on the Moon much.

"I'm afraid so." The Vanguard replied.

"Where's Bell-17 now sir?" Dorian asked.

"In repairs. We thought it best to allow him to rest." Ikora answered him, before Cayde-6 to speak with their objectives.

"We need you to scout the area, find out what he's doing down there. You think you can handle that?" the three echoed agreement.

"Be careful Guardians," The Speaker added, "What you have heard in this room must remain here. The dissention is not something we can afford in these days. Dorian if you would be so kind as to follow me. The Cryptarchs would be very interested to see what you have."

"We'll leave in the morning." Tax declared. "My team needs rest."

"Good enough." Cayde-6 said then went back to looking at his Maps. When the two other Vanguards had no objections to Cayde-6's word—the Speaker nodded softly and began to walk out of the door.

"How is Bell-17 doing?" Dorian asked.

"He's severely damaged." Ikora Rey answered. "It'll be a while before he gets back in the field, but he's adamant about it. So it probably won't be long."

"How bad was the battle?"

"Well, each member of his Fireteam was a full-fledged professional. However from his account, it was bad enough that he died for a short amount of time." Dorian raised an eyebrow at that. "Some Warlocks, Sunsingers to be exact, have the ability to revive themselves. Usually they just release Solar energy to give strength to their fellow team members, but in the most dire of moments, they can summon all that energy to fix themselves. Even from pull their way out from beyond the grave."

His Ghost buzzed in the air, "The Speaker and the Cryptarchs will see you now. The Speaker's residence is in Tower North." Dorian followed the Ghost's directions from the Hall of Guardians to Tower North, where Master Ranhool and the Speaker were already speaking with one another. Dorian's paranoia seemed to extend beyond just fearing his own reflection. On his way from the Hall of Guardians, he was convinced that someone was following him, whether it was a trick of his own mind or an actual thing—he didn't know.

"Dorian, welcome to my humble abode. Meet Master Ranhool, our representative of the Cryptarchs' here in the tower."

"I appreciate you taking out mission to find the Fallen Captain who had been burning the libraries of the Ishtar collective. I'd never imagined that it would lead to this… a Fallen interested in our books. What could it possibly mean?"

"I have no idea myself, Master Ranhool. I also regret to inform you that the data I retrieved is not in the best condition. In my haste, my Ghost had to hurry up the encoding process."

"Yes, I heard. Jumping off a spire, now that isn't very smart is it?" Dorian started to notice the tone of condescension. He hoped it wouldn't continue. "Come now, let us see what you've got ." Dorian's ghost materialized into the air and began to communicate with the Speaker's Ghost, who in turn displayed the large mess of code in the air.

"Oh dear, you really did scramble this up did you? This is going to take some time, Speaker. This is by far more complicated than an engram. I'll proceed the work immediately. Excuse me, Speaker, Guardian." The Speaker nodded to Master Ranhool, who went on his way.

"Thank you for your help with this, Dorian. You are one of the youngest Returned we had have here in the Tower. I do hope you'll forgive Master Ranhool if he has his doubts. I'm sorry you must bear such heavy burdens on your shoulders." Dorian shrugged, " Good luck on your mission tomorrow."

"Thank you, Speaker." Dorian withdrew from Tower North. He felt a sort of eagerness to return to the Hall of Guardians, find Elsynn, and continue their drink. Then he began to feel as though his stalker was more than simply a figment of his imagination.

_Oh, so I'm a figment of your imagination too? Am I not real then? Is this really how you think of me?_

Dorian fought the urge to tell it to shut up, knowing it'll shut up if he did not reply.

_Don't worry, I won't try to come up with something to talk for hours straight, it's pretty difficult! I will however, tell you this, one of these days you're going to have to chose whether or not you're really going to listen to me. And then, it'll be a matter of life and death. _

What did that mean? The voice however, chose to shut up. Now of all times. Dorian fought his paranoia. He arrived at the conclusion that he had time to burn, and then decided to root out whoever it was who was following him. If not he would at least try to find out whether or not this stalker of his was real. And the easiest thing to do when someone I tailing you is to act erratic. Dorian got to the Tower's large terrace, and started to slink around the storage vault installed there. After several zig-zags around he still failed to spot the his stalker, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was there. Then he continued to the Tower Hangar, once he left the corridor and actually arrived there, he made of show of forgetting something then hurried back.

Still, he saw no face that rung a bell. He continued to walk around the large terrace before he made a sudden turn and headed for the Traveler's walk. Halfway to the end, he spun around and headed for the exit.

And there _he_ was.

Cloaked in yellow Warlock armor, with a cloak draped low over his face. Dorian couldn't make out any of his face before he glanced away lest the man see that Dorian was on to him. Dorian calmly continued down the stairs and in the Hall of the Guardians where Taxon-4 and Elsynn was still conversing with one another. He smiled and waved at them as he approached. In the most casual manner possible, he grabbed the both of them by the shoulder.

"Walk with me, don't look around, but I think there's someone on my tail." Both of their slacked confused postures straightened up immediately at his words. "C'mon act normal both of you," He pulled a fake laugh, "Yellow Warlock cloak."

"You think it's of Thane's spies?" Elsynn asked

"How did he find out so early?" Taxon-4 said, unbelieving. "I suggest we confront him."

"Where?" Dorian asked. Starting to feel the blood pumping in his ears.

"Outside the Tower Gates, just beyond Tower North. We can drag him off into the corner. If it's nothing we can still pretend it was practical joke gone wrong."

"That's actually not such a bad idea." Dorian remarked and followed Tax's lead. Dorian managed to catch a glimpse of yellow behind him as they continued towards Tower North and passed the red gate at its end. The gate closed behind them and they slinked to one side and then acted like they had been there for hours. Not twenty seconds of small talk later a figure emerged, wearing a yellow cloak. He also had limp, now that Dorian really paid attention.

But that didn't seem to discourage Tax from grabbing him and then throwing him up against the wall, where his limp really came into play. He miss-stepped and hit the wall harder than Tax probably intended. The hood of the cloak fell away, revealing an exo as he lifted up his hands disarmingly. Both Tax and Elsynn lit up in recognition.

"Bell-17? What are you doing?"

"I mean no harm, but I heard what happened on Venus with you all. I wanted to know more." Tax looked at him unconvinced.

"How can we trust you?"

Bell-17 looked genuinely hurt and stunned. Then he launched into a flare of anger. "Damn it Tax, My entire Fireteam was wiped out, I was dead for a time down there, and now I'm barred from fieldwork for the next three months. That's ninety days of sitting on my ass!" He caught himself losing his temper and calmed himself down. "I know that the Speaker and the Vanguards locked themselves in the Hall of Guardians when they debriefed you. I received similar treatment after I got back from the Moon. I have a feeling what we saw respectively, were related. So tell me, what were they?"

Tax looked at Elsynn who gave him a conceding look, Dorian felt offended that he wasn't consulted. "We were in Venus, we were after a Fallen Captain when we noticed something amiss. When we dug around we managed to catch a name. Thane."

"Who is he?"

"We don't know ourselves, but we do know—"

"He's got Guardians working for him." A moment of silence ensued his words. Dorian caught the message so far that Guardians didn't betray each other. Which made a lot of sense, to betray the Light was to betray one's very self. Unless they had some other form of power.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Saw something out of place, we thought there were Guardians being held captive below the surface. When we arrived below it was quite the opposite."

"They were free?"

"More so. They were _in charge_. They set up the entire ambush, they sent the Vex to do their bidding. It seems that this Thane character, places Guardians pretty high up his chain of command. I saw at least a Hunter and a Warlock. Both of them very good. They were also doing something down there. Something sinister."

"What?"

"I have no idea. But it was dark and powerful. A Hive ritual of some sort."

"You stopped it?"

"No. There was nothing I could do. That bitch of a Hunter—no offense," he said to Elsynn, she shrugged, "Pretty much severed my leg then rammed a knife up my throat. Severed my motoric cortex, so safe to say they know their way around their enemies and their former friends."

"They still have Fireteams then?"

"They seem to, yeah. What now?"

"The Speaker is sending us to the moon to investigate."

"Immediately?"

"We leave at Dawn." Tax answered.

"Damn it." The exo swore

"What? Dorian asked.

"I wish I could come. But, alas," He looked away, then knocked his metallic feet his arm, "They gave me new legs, but they're still calibrating. It's going to take a while too, so I'm fucked more or less."

"Sorry," Dorian said. Bell-17 turned to Dorian, and examined him.

"And I'm guessing you're the newest addition to the Fireteam?" Dorian nodded, all of a sudden feeling nervous like he was being inspected. "Can you pool the Light in your hand for me?"

"Um okay, sure…" Dorian reached in and found the Light that so eagerly awaited to be let lose. Then channeled the energy into his hand. The Void Energy quickly flowed into his arms, glowing with purple Light.

"Well done, that is fast. How long has it been since you Returned?"

"About half a week," Elsynn answered.

"Well done. That's faster than I could ever manage at your level. Faster than Soren too."

"Who's Soren?" Dorian saw Bell-17 look at Elsynn and Tax both. Tax was stoic as usual, Elsynn a little more stone cold than usual. Sensitive topic then.

"Excellent question for another day," he straightened his ruffled coat, "When you do find them, would you be so kind as to retrieve their bodies. There are enough of out fallen brothers and sisters out there who don't get the ceremony they deserve in death. I'm pretty sure I could find a burial plot out there in the City."

"I know a better place, Twilight Gap." Tax said.

Bell-17 looked thoughtful for a moment before he agreed. "Twilight Gap it is. Clave would like that very much." Bell looked sad—as sad as an exo can look—as he limped on, before going he turned back. "I might have some gear for you if you're interested, Dorian. A proper Warlock should have something more respectable to wear other than that pitiful shade of red. And I should think that George and Clave's jumpships have far better things to do than Float in orbit around the moon and do nothing." The sad looking exo Warlock nodded—more to himself than to the three—and began to walk out.

Dorian thought of an idea, which he weighed and determined okay in the space of several seconds. "Bell!" Dorian caught up, with him as he walked among the Guardians' housing buildings, "If it's not too much trouble, you look like a pretty good coach."

Bell turned and looked at Dorian, up and down, examining him like one would examine a product before purchase. Apparently he deemed Dorian pretty okay, "Huh? _Pretty good_ coach? Boy, I'm a hundred and twelve years old, I'm more than 'pretty good.' Since I'll be stuck here for some time…" his expression hinted at him turning the idea over in his head. "I don't see why not." Bell-17 smiled another sad smile, then turned around and continued on his way.


	7. The Moon

**Author's note: More action in this one people. Enjoy it all, the lot of it. Please leave a review, share with your friends, or whatever. Thanks to **_**Arbiter08**_** and **_**DawnStars1247 **_**for your reviews, means a lot! I would also suggest that you checkout "Destiny: The Three Musketeers" by **_**shadowsamurai77.**_** Enjoy this one!**

Chapter 7: The Moon

Dorian was expecting the Moon to be… Well not what it looked like now that he had seen it up close. Seeing it from a distance drastically changed it. He was expecting more craters and less actually terrain. From the earth, the moon looked as if every inch of it would be covered with craters and then flat otherwise. The surface he looked at now looked more like rolling hills you could find earth, or a desert dunes—all that remained true about his original impression of it was that everything was grey.

And the surface was strangely dark, if one were to see the moon from earth one would expected some sort of glow or radiance to the surface. However other than the sun burning bright over them, the ground didn't glow like he had expected it too. On the contrary, from where he stood the Earth shone almost as brightly as the Moon did from Earth. The experience was enlightening—no pun intended.

While he was busy admiring the scenery, his other Fireteam members were slightly annoyed at having to wait for him as he walked all the way to register his Sparrow at the station on the moon. Why couldn't they just _ride_ down from jumpships _in_ the Sparrows, instead of having to get to the local station and link it to the station.

Tax soon answered the question, "If you didn't register with the sparrow station on the surface, you wouldn't be able to teleport it to and from your Jumpship, which is a safer option than leaving it out in the open, and takes far less time than having it literally fly all the way up and down whenever you needed it." Dorian only grunted in acknowledgement and trudged on the uneventful trip.

Until they saw the Hive.

The pale and dead creatures walked area around the Sparrow station. Thralls and Acolytes, seemingly doing nothing. Only walking in circles—dormant was the word that came to mind. Dorian guessed they had come up with the strategy just to wait at the station for some poor Guardian who had to register his Sparrow at the station then ambush him. Dorian readied his Pulse Rifle.

"Go! Rush in and get your Ghost started on the registration routines. We'll cover you."

"Why do _I_ have to be the one who rushes into the middle of the field helpless, while the rest of you stand back here."

"Because it's your sparrow that needs to be registered. We have been around much longer and therefore have higher authority." She shot back half-sarcastically. "We'll cover you. Now run!" Dorian hefted his pulse rifle up to his shoulder and then sprinted into the lines of the Hive. He raised his rifle and got a couple of bursts out but it didn't help with anything. Meanwhile running he heard a sniper roar behind him, Elsynn, it had seemed had begun to do her work. The compound was what remained of what must been a mining and research colony out on the Moon. It's side was torn abort by what must have been a massive attack or a crash.

He channeled more of the Void Energy and then leapt up into the air. At an inhuman height, he allowed the energy to vent downwards and glided along until he reached his destination. Once inside he spotted a couple of acolytes himself and dispatched them with the help of his pulse rifle. When two Thralls spotted him and rushed him, he blasted one away with the sheer force of Void Energy and then shot the other in the head.

"Start now and be quick about it," he snapped, summoning his ghost and releasing it to do its work.

"Don't rush me." The Ghost said and flew away before he could say anything else. Dorian had better things to do, like dealing with the two acolytes running into the compound. Dorian aimed his pulse rifle and fired four bursts at them.

His radio lit up with Elsynn's voice. "We're cleaning up out here, do you want us to come to you?"

Dorian glanced back at his Ghost doing its work on the station, "No, I'm fine." Another acolyte crept up the entrance—making the mistake of popping out its head first. Dorian dealt with him quickly.

A reassuring beep came from his Ghost followed by its chirpy voice. "Your sparrow awaits!"

"Summoning!" Dorian ran towards the entrance then jumped up, boosted slightly by Void energy. Then as he came down, summoned his sparrow. He hit the boost as he was about to hit the ground, launching him forward. "I've got my sparrow." He said snidely.

"Show off…" he heard Elsynn say, but ignored it—and the considerable pain in his groin—and chose to revel in the small glory of pulling off that stunt.

"Where to?"

"The coordinates show the cave lies somewhere 4 klicks west of here." Tax said, pointing a certain direction while looking at the map his Ghost had brought up. "Let's go." Whatever stunt he confidence had gained pulling off his small stunt, wore off as both Tax and Elsynn hit their boost and zoomed off. Do they have to go at such high speeds all the time?

It took them five minutes of going over the pale gray dunes of moon dust to get to their destination. The Cave where Bell-17 lost his Fireteam "There they are." Tax said looking upwards. Three dots in a triangular formation hung in the sky, like over-sized stars. But Dorian knew what they were. "The jumpships. Locked in geostationary orbit around the moon. Well Lunar-stationary orbit to be precise."

"We promised him we'd bring them home, didn't we?" Dorian asked.

"We'll set them on autopilot and link them to ours." Elsynn said, "Then they'll tail us all the way home."

The opening of the cave was two and a half metres high and several metres wide. The cave's entrance showed the high amount of activity that the cave facilitated. Dorian didn't need to look inside to know he probably wouldn't like it. The entrance itself looked uninviting and misanthropic. Definitely not somewhere he wanted to go. Dorian looked unsurely into the mouth of the cave, then glanced back at the dunes behind them. Wishing he could simply stay outside where—despite the vacuum and lack of life—the environment didn't look bent on their misery and death.

Then he saw it

A glint of light, coming from something that might have been—a sniper's scope! "Contact, six o'clock!" He said alarmingly.

Elsynn jumped out of the cave and arrived right beside him, "Where?"

"There over the crest of that dune."

"See anything, El?" Asked Tax who kept his eyes fixed on the darkness inside that cave with his belt-fed machine gun, as if something inside was just waiting for him to turn away and jump on them. The unnerving thing was that something actually might be.

"I see something that might have been a scope, or a set of binoculars, but I can't be sure, not at this range—wait. I think it just moved." Elsynn raised her pulse rifle and eyed the hill in the distance. Then without another word, she ran, jumped, and landed on her materializing sparrow.

"Dorian go!" Tax commanded, and though he was yet to match Elsynn's grace and speed he quickly mounted his sparrow and sped behind Elsynn. She rode her sparrow hard, her sparrow practically bounced up and over the dune. But she managed to catch the man spying on them. He was on a sparrow as well, a dark red Warlock's coat flowed behind him as he moved at high speed. But Elsynn was faster. She hit the boost and then flew over a ramp of moondust. She was gaining on him, but he pulled his hand cannon out and began to pelt her sparrow with bullets. Without him realizing it, his shooting was costing him even more speed, and also without him realizing it, Dorian flanked him from the other side.

When the man on the sparrow depleted his bullets he turned back forward to reload them, and there Dorian was, a metre away from his Sparrow. He pointed the hand cannon at Dorian, however Dorian was faster—meaning he gave up common sense sooner and leapt unto the fleeing man. It was perfect tackle, he caught him center mass and knocked them both off the sparrow and into the ground. Thank the Traveler for the Moon's low gravity. The two of them hit the ground hard and spun several time on the soft moondust dunes. If there had been rocks Dorian's bones would have been done for. He landed on the ground next to the Warlock. He didn't know who gained his bearing s first, but as Dorian was able to tell up from down and left from right, he got to his feet and pointed his pulse rifle at the Warlock.

"Move and I'll shoot! And if you don't want any extra holes in your chest, don't make a move." Elsynn's Sparrow made a large tuning circle before stopping by Dorian and the Warlock. The Warlock dropped his hand cannon and raise both his arms disarmingly. Elsynn moved in quickly and kicked the gun away from him, putting the barrel of her weapon right on the nape of his neck. Tax's sparrow stopped right by them and he hand his machine gun out and aimed at the fleeing Guardian.

"And who might you be?" Dorian said breaking the uneasy silence that lay between them. "Answer the question! And what the hell were you doing shooting at a Guardian."

"Bastards…"

Dorian fired his rifle close to the Warlock's head. "Watch it! Answer the question, unless your name really is bastard. In which case, it befits you nicely."

He muttered something in his helmet, which none of them could catch. Finally he spoke, "Lucius. You can call me Lucius."

"And what might you be doing, sneaking around the site where two other Guardians are killed." Dorian watched for a reaction in the man's body language, a change in posture a dropping of the shoulders, anything. He found nothing. "So you do know about the dead Guardians. What the hell do you want with a cave on the moon huh, traitor?"

"I don't ask the questions. I just carry out the orders. That's what I do, and those who question orders don't tend to live long."

"Neither do traitors."

"Neither do failures."

Tax grunted, then asked with a curious tone. "What does that mean?"

"Aw shit." The man swore than his posture slightly relaxed. "You know what happened here last week don't you? Then believe me when I say, I'm positively buggered. But if you help me, then I can help you…" the Warlock said hopefully. Elsynn issued a scoff that all but said _pathetic_. But the Warlock's tone darkened and desperation crept into his voice, "How long do you think I have left? I compromised a big operation on the moon. A op _I _was in charge of, and I hold responsibility for. If I go back all there's going to be is punishment, probably death too. In the end."

"What makes you think we'll trust you?"

"You don't have to, but you need me, that's the problem." Lucius's posture straightened. "Do you know where Thane keeps his supplies stashed? Do you know his safe house locations? I guessed not. That's what I'm offering. I don't even care if you put me in cell after you take me back to the Tower. As long as I'm away from Thane. I can help you, like it or not I can help. I can help you navigate that cave, and I can help you stop the Hive ritual that's waiting for you at the bottom of that cave."

Elsynn muted her mike and spoke through comms only. "He has a point. Though I still hate him."

"I don't trust him at all." Dorian said.

"For now we'll have to see he leads us, the moment we smell something fishy, I'll shoot him myself." Elsynn ventured.

"What's to say you won't lead us straight into an ambush once we're down there?" Tax asked aloud.

"What good could I possibly gain by killing you anyways? They'll just send more Guardians, when they stop hearing from you. You think I can just pull up the stakes, roll up the tent and set up shop somewhere else? This op's burned. _I'm_ burned. As soon as Thane finds me, I'm dead. I have a better chance with you, and your Traveler."

"And if we don't believe you?"

"Then kill me," Lucius said, his voice resolute and barely masking the twang of madness. Probably caused by desperation. "I'm dead either way." He spread his arms, as if welcoming death.

"Start walking," Tax said, gesturing with his weapon. "Two metres ahead of us, any sudden moves then you'll get to see how fast we can pull our triggers."

"Can I at least have a weapon?" He asked.

Elsynn scoffed.

"You do know there are Hive defending that ritual, to them it's still business as usual."

"How many?" Tax asked.

"At least a hundred strong. With Wizards and Knights. And if your luck really isn't that good, Goblins and Minotaurs too."

"Vex?"

"Thane, you see, is quite a convincing fellow. Whether through rhetoric, subterfuge or sheer show of force."

"So there really is no place left for you to run is there?" Dorian asked.

"Well he's not friendly terms with the Cabal, but they hate everyone in-general. So I don't see how that's a viable option for asylum.

"How bout your partner, that hunter?"

"Reylani? She wasn't in charge when things fell apart, she probably denied she had anything to do with it. Frankly the blame is mostly on me anyway. If I was her I'd be hunting me down, or hiding in the reef somewhere. Benefits of being an awoken, I guess, more places to hide. Bottom line, she's gone and there's nothing I can do about it. Now, are there any other questions you'd like to ask, or are we actually going to get something done today?"

Elsynn tossed his hand cannon back to him, but her rifle was aimed at his head almost the instant that he caught it, "I'm watching you, keep that in mind." He raised his hands up, conceding, before holstering his hand cannon.

"How deep into the Cave are the Hive set up?"

"Twenty or thirty metres give or take. This is quite a valuable thing to them, so they'll protect this to their last man. It helps to have mindless soldiers you can throw at the enemy."

He was right, twenty five metres into the Cave, the Cave opened up to look less natural formed, and more like it was carved into the rock. There the first Acolytes awaited them. Their skin was as pale and dead as the surface of the moon. They seemed to lack eyes, and a properly functioning mind as well. The life in them was gone. The absence of any environmental aid or life support systems, seem to point only at one thing. They weren't alive to begin with.

He explained the dozen or so Hive soldiers waiting in the next chamber. "I'm attacking," Lucius said, less of a statement, more asking permission. Dorian didn't think he got it until he ran forward and Tax didn't shoot him. His performance outside might have been hampered by his having to drive and shoot at the same time, but with a hand cannon in a enclosed space where he had firm ground beneath his feet, his gunplay really came to a head. He fired off three shots in rapid succession then leapt over his cover and fired three more into the next acolyte. The final acolyte he blasted into the wall.

Dorian felt very glad all of a sudden that Lucius had decided to join them. Fighting him would have been one hell of a task. "C'mon!" He said, going down a set of stairs, "Each lesser Hive unit reports and has a link with a Wizard. If any of them are in distress—or dead—there's a good chance the Wizard will notice. The earlier they know about us, the more time they have to fortify down there. The more time they have to prep, the uglier it gets."

Dorian looked back at Tax or Elsynn to verify everything Lucius just said, "Everything he said checks out. But I wouldn't completely trust him just yet." Tax mentioned over a secure frequency.

The next room had more Hive in it, the Wizard might not have warned them, but the gunfire from the level above did. A line of Thrall charged at them the moment they arrived at the foot of the stair case. They all leveled their weapons in unison and cut the Hive down with their rounds. Keeping it in tight bursts, Dorian handled the acolyte with ranged weapons in the back, while the Lucius and Tax dealt with the Thrall who threw themselves at their lines, nearly continuously. Hoping to overwhelm the four even though they wielded only clubs and machetes. After two minutes of fighting they cleared the room and sent any surviving Hive running to the lower levels.

If that Wizard hadn't been aware of them before, he was now. And that prompt them to rush down the stair and into the large antechamber hoping to still catch the Hive off guard. At the bottom of the stairs, however, awaited a line of seven figures with brass like armor and singular red eyes.

"Shite, Vex!" Lucius moved so fast, it briefly made Dorian panic. Lucius grabbed Elsynn by her shoulders and dove to the side as the staircase lit up with gunfire—and the spot where once she stood was vaporized. So those were the Vex, Dorian thought to himself.

"Shoot the energy cells, in their abdomen!" Dorian followed the order without thinking. He pulled out his shotgun and fired into the center mass of the first vex unit in his sights. The goblin jolted backwards and then made small explosion—his energy cells so damaged they ruptured and exploded. He continued down the stairs, overly confident, trying to take them out on his own when a Vex projectiles rippled across his armor. He was taken aback metaphorically, before Tax grabbed him and pulled him aback literally.

"Watch it kid. No need to be a hero on this one. Caution."

However the moment the last goblin was down, it was clear Lucius didn't share Tax's opnion, "Charge!" He leapt out of his cover and his figure glow with an arcane green glow. Like the Void had a dark malevolent twin, and Lucius had it in his hand right then and there. The Power danced around him as it gained "momentum".

"Supporting fire, give it, now." He was still trying to guess what the man was up to, Tax had no choice but to support Lucius.

"Minotaur in the back!"

"You can't take one of those on your own, are you crazy?"

"Maybe," Lucius said and leapt in the air, then the energy he wielded coalesced around a his right arm and shot down into a minotaur. The rest happened outside Dorian's line of sight, but he caught the purple glow nonetheless. He also caught a glimpse of scorched and green machine parts flying off. Not long after that however, he saw Lucius run back to him. Swift and panicky, he jumped behind cover.

"I may have miscounted the number of minotaurs back there. Stand your ground! The last Fireteam… they were pushed nearly all the way to the cliff," A electronic roar confirmed what he said. Elsynn's large launcher materialized into her arms. Lucius chuckled, "Oh I like you girl. Feisty!" He said regarding her launcher, before his own launcher materialized.

"Dorian, my fusion rifle, take it for now." Elsynn said. The rifle materialized next to him and he picked it up. "It fires in rapid bursts of seven, remember to charge up your shoots and watch the recoil."

"Gotcha'," Dorian let the weapon nestle under his cheek and aimed down the sights as the Minotaurs came into view.

"Ready…" Tax started, "Steady…" the Ward of Dawn appeared over them, just as acknowledged them. "NOW!" Their side of the cave lit up with the back blast of two launchers, a machine gun's muzzle flashes, and a fusion rifle's energy. The Vex's side of the cave lit up in the explosive forces of each respective weapon. A minotaur teleported across the space between them. They focused their fire on the Minotaur as it drew closer—thankful that the Ward of Dawn deflected all other gunfire. The one minotaur began to light up with the various explosions and fall to the ground as smoldering hunks. Another Minotaur fell the same time the Ward of Dawn dissipated. They pushed. Dorian glided in the air to gain a vantage point then tossed a Vortex grenade. The grenade landed behind the Vex and the power of the light kept them in pain. They were boxed in for the short amount of time the grenade lasted.

Elsynn jumped atop a rock and fired another missile before switching to her Pulse rifle and began to deal heavy damage while moving from rock to rock. As the Minotaurs tried to track the elusive Elsynn, Lucius and Dorian drew forward and dealt with the Minotaurs at point blank. Lucius with his hand cannon, Dorian with his Shotgun. By the time his Vortex grenade wore out they had pushed the final Minotaur, and vex units to the cliff. The two Warlocks seemed to understand the message. A blast of Void energy was all that took to nudge them over the edge and into the abyss of the moon. Dorian stole a look over the edge, but it would have warranted the name abyss if it didn't seem bottomless. He couldn't see the bottom of this one. He kept staring into the darkness when Lucius's voice brought him back

He was still tired and panting but worry most of all littered his tone. "Shite," Lucius swore, Dorian asked why. "We took too much time," he answered. "The Wizards will have time to fortify their position now. The care a lot about that ritual of theirs"

"What is this ritual, Lucius?" Tax asked warily.

"You really wouldn't want to mess with it. It's a powerful one. But it's worse if you leave it alone." He said, "It's a ritual that drains the Travelers of its Light."

**Author's Note: Sorry to end on a cliffhang-ey note. I kinda struggled to decide whether I wanted a really lengthy chapter or cut it into two. In the end I decided on the latter, seeing that they were both quite action-intense and putting you through too much of that might actually bore you. So, sorry if you wanted to see more, but no worries there'll be more next week. Have a great week!**


	8. Lucius

_Author's Note: Sorry, for the late update. And on a cliffhanger nonetheless, but school has demanded nothing less than my unconditional surrender to its evil plans to work my classmates and me to death. But here it is. When I wrote these chapters, I had just seen Dragon Age: Inquisition and I thought to myself: "That green glowing rift magic sure is cool." So why not give something like it to Lucius. So enjoy this chapter_

Chapter 8: Lucius.

"How is that even possible?" Dorian asked Lucius and they treaded carefully into the depths. "Draining the Light of the Traveler?"

"The Hive managed to recover a shard of the Traveler. Must have fallen off of it during the Collapse. Working their arcane art of the Darkness on it, they managed to create a ritual. It's been going on for several decades now."

"And Thane started all that?"

"Thane? I don't think he's that resourceful. No, Thane simply found it, but he made sure that the Hive would be able to continue the ritual for as long as possible. Unfortunately I had enough bad luck that the ritual to be discovered on my watch. There's nothing I can do about that anymore. I have no choice now." Then he smirked. "It's this or run around the solar system till Thane catches me."

"How do we take it down?"

"I can do it, just trust me. But when I engage in the ritual I'm going to be completely absorbed. And surrounded. These Hive as you can understand, They're very invested about the ritual, they'll go for me." He stopped and turned to face Tax and his Fireteam. "Can I rely on you for covering fire?"

"Take Hive fire while you sit comfily in cover somewhere?" Elsynn said sharply.

"Comfy? Have you ever felt what it's like to be near that thing?" Elsynn didn't answer. "Didn't think so. You'll see, then you'll be begging me to help you out. So I'll ask again, can I rely on your covering fire?"

"Yes." Tax said reluctantly.

"Excellent." He made a show of dusting himself and continued to walk deeper into the Hive caverns.

-x-x-x-

By the time they arrived there, a group of three Wizards had taken their position around the perimeter of the chamber. And a helluva lot of Hive concentrated around them. Dorian went for the sheer-force-of-Light approach—decimating the Hive's lines with Nova Bomb. He landed behind cover and waited as his Fireteam took advantage of the moment to draw closer to where he was and provide him with enough suppressing fire to move forward.

"Nice work, kid." He heard Lucius say to him as he took a position next to Dorian and emptied his hand cannon into the Hive. "Can I rely on that same show of force when I'm stopping that ritual?"

"You bet," Dorian said, distractedly, he was busy aiming his pulse rifle at the hive. So far, however, Lucius hadn't been as bad as he thought. "You know I'll be honest with you, I had you pegged as a traitor. Well, I guess you still are—but cheeky, evil bastard type. I'm starting to think I'm wrong."

"But don't _all_ Guardians think that way? Isn't that the idea that the tower drills into us." He dropped behind cover to reload his Hand Cannon, taking his time as he spoke. "About _all_ the our foes? Guardians are excellent with denying that the enemy has any humanity left. We dress them in completely evil garb because it makes the job easier." He reloaded his weapon once more. "Humanity is cornered, it's situation dire. When we look out at the Cabal, the Vex, the Fallen…" He paused, taking the time to aim down his sights, then clipped an acolyte in the head. "…we seem to think they're better off because they're on the offense. Being out there… it changes your perspective."

"Is that what turned you?"

Thane's voice turned dry and grim when he said, "No. It was something else."

"Good, because if you changed sides to make yourself feel good inside… I wouldn't forgive you."

He considered Dorian for a moment, "You've only been back a couple weeks, Dorian. When you've seen your fair share of how shitty this world can be, come see me and then we'll talk about what forgivable and what's not. Then summoned his ghost and said, "Give me the other one." A second hand cannon materialized in his hand. "Vortex grenade. By the entrance, should keep them out of the room. Let's push!"

Lucius vaulted over their cover and began to fire his two hand cannons. As the Thrall around him began to fall, Dorian shifted his focus to the Wizards by the door. Tax stood behind cover peppering them with his auto rifle. Pushing into tight cover, where Elsynn moved like a wraith through the enemy lines. Firing several bursts then running to another position. Their tactics were practiced and worked like well-oiled machine. Dorian shifted his focus between the Wizards and the acolytes around Lucius, who was busy handling the thrall around him. While the Wizards were still distracted, Dorian and Lucius eliminated the thrall and acolytes defending them. When the last acolyte fell, all four of them turned on the Wizard. "Lucius which one should we take?" Dorian asked. But as soon as they regrouped, Lucius launched forward at a ridiculous speed, then his figure teleported across the field. The overwhelmed Wizard fired its Dark spell in random directions just out of frustration. Lucius then blinked above the Wizard and shot down with a Nova bomb, ripping the Wizard apart and leaving a sphere of destruction for his partners to suffer in. So this what a Warlock looks like unleashed.

_Not exactly, look at his Void energy. something is wrong with it. A proper warlock wields purple Void Light. Look at his, it's… _green_._ _I don't like him._ He chose to ignore the voice's judgment of Lucius, as he joined Lucius in the heat of combat. And covered his retreat back to cover. "Are hit and run tactics a preferred Warlock tactic or just something you prefer?" Dorian asked.

"My thing. A Warlock's power is infinite. Looking into the Void changes you in indescribable ways. Gives you unimaginable power. How you chose to use it, that's up to you. You are as much an artist as you are warrior, Dorian. Don't forget that. You find the line that suits you and you follow it." He summoned a grenade which split upon impact, making several smaller explosions in quick succession. Then he pulled out his hand cannon and vaulted over his cover. Dorian could only follow as Lucius took a Wizard head on. These Wizards however, were dressed differently, and they looked a Tier higher than the ones they encountered before.

Not that it stopped Lucius.

The other Wizard had its hands full with Tax and Elsynn, conveniently distributing the work among the two. With the Wizard still staggered from the grenade's chain of explosives, Lucius' hand cannon shots hit home. When his shields broke, Dorian depleted his mag into the Wizard's head and center mass. It exploded with black blood and went down. The Wizard on Tax and Elsynn's side went down—a Hunter's knife lodged between its eyes. She pulled it out of the creature, and stood still in a moment of respite—they all did.

It was then, a third and final Wizard leapt out of the Darkness, Lucius grabbed Dorian and yanked him out of the way as the ground lit up with the Wizard's arcane powers. Tax and Elsynn lit the creature up with gunfire. While Dorian was still dumbfounded and stumbling on the ground, Lucius continued into a roll then turned to face the creature. His body taut with anticipation and Void energy. A grenade quickly formed in his hands and he tossed straight into the Wizard's face. Unlike any other grenade Dorian had seen before, it stuck to the Wizard with lethal grip. Both Tax and Elsynn moved out of the way—seeming to know exactly what to expect. The grenade exploded a second later and obliterated its shields. By then, all four them were locked and loaded.

It didn't stand a chance.

Final chamber sat at the very end of the tunnel. With the Wizards all dead and gone, it lay there unprotected. From a distance Dorian could only make out a murky black mass, swirling in the air. However, once he got closer he could see the white shard hidden at the core of the black mass. It was part of the Traveler. He felt chill creep out towards him—his chest felt like constricting. The Darkness in this room was choking out the Light—he almost couldn't bear it. Just looking at the mass in the air felt sickening. Lucius walked under it like it was nothing. It didn't faze him. Dorian spotted the two bodies on the ground. Two hunters by the looks of it. Some dust had already piled on their clothes. Elsynn looked sad as she knelt by the bodies and touched their helmets—one of them already shattered by a gunshot.

"I'm… sorry," Lucius said quietly.

"Just shut up and get it done." Elsynn said venomously.

"Alright, then." Lucius shook his head, "You're going to have to move the bodies aside for this. The moment I start this it's going to trigger a warning, and it's going to get thick." Lucius said, "I'll need some covering fire as I get this." The three formed as tight a perimeter as they could without getting to close to the sickening Hive ritual. They all restocked, reloaded their weapons, and rechecked them for any signs of wear of jam. "I'm good to go." Elsynn said first, her hands a blur as she went about her rifle. Not long after that everyone echoed the same words.

"Here we go," Lucius stood directly below the shard and then unleashed his Ghost who moved to work all over the thing. "No going back from this one."The Warlock began to mutter indistinct words as a howl erupted from outside the chamber. The Chamber had a back door as well as a front door, making it harder to set up a choke point. A large Hive started to lumber down the corridor, It didn't float like a Wizard, but it was large nonetheless.

"Knights," Elsynn before unleashing a volley with her pulse rifle. "We've got two entrances! Someone keep an eye on the other!" Dorian looked Lucius who seemed completely absorbed by the ritual. The stream of words now coming from his mouth were rapid and indistinct. He looked at the open back entrance to the chamber and then set up his position behind a rock. As he lay crouched there, he could see the silhouette of something big approaching—a knight no doubt.

It was. Two of them rushed into the room, wielding their energy weapons and started to take the place apart. One of which nearly clipped Lucius in the leg mid-ritual. Dorian followed Elsynn's hit and run tactics, easy to do when one has a rapid firing rifle with a relatively large magazine. Though not as practiced as Elsynn's execution, Dorian was able to run in circles around the room and taking shots as random intervals. The knights were not as tough as wizards, but if they didn't have strength going for them they had the numbers. Elsynn charged her arc-blade and was now glowing a light with a silvery-blue light. She streaked left and right slashing here and there, a three knights went down before she depleted her Light.

Which was worrying.

The Light didn't come like it used to. Out there—even in Venus, so far away from Earth—Light was abundant. Like standing in a river, you could feel the water all around you, the current surged out to meet you. In that room, that river was reduced to a trickle. The Light only barely reached them, it was only barely able to refill the vessel of power. With the amount of Light he had within him—he could barely summon a Nova Bomb, perhaps a grenade or two, but he didn't want to risk using so much that he would not be able to summon a Nova Bomb. He could try reaching into his Light and guessing how much he had left. That however, that needed concentration and right now another Knight with Thralls in tow just made it through the back entrance. He looked back at tax and Elsynn, only see a fraction of what they were doing but it didn't look pretty. Gunfire rattled out form their end almost endlessly. Dorian turned back to his entrance.

"Shite." Dorian stepped out of his cover and sent a volley with his pulse rifle. A couple of thralls fell with it, the Knight however kept advancing.

_The Thrall make excellent meat shield's in Hive warfare, but that's all they are. They're great at swarming you. Shift to the Knight, without it the Thrall will lose momentum. _

Dorian followed the voice, and like it had so many times before, it worked. The Thrall became enraged and charged at Dorian. Ignoring them for as long as possible, he focused his on the Knight. The instant he went down, the Thralls' charge broke and lost direction. The closest one took a blast of Void energy to the face. Dorian changed to his shotgun as he gunned them down in close quarters, using the rocks around him as a choke point. He looked to the other side of the room. Lucius was still mid-ritual, his Warlock frame was glowing with a certain green glow—something was definitely happening. Further down the line, Tax and Elsynn were dealing with another wave of three Knights. Now, Dorian had begun to have his own qualms whether or not Lucius meant for them to die down here. Maybe he did. But damn himself if Dorian wasn't going down with any fight left him or bullets in his gun.

Knights, more Knights. How many fucking Knights do they have on the moon?

A two-Knight formation entered through the back, forcing Dorian to change his position. At this rate, with dwindling ammunition and his limited one man effort, he was going to going to get over run very soon. Dorian popped of his cover and sent more and more rounds down the field. The Thralls cannon-fodder tactics were working however, he couldn't get a clear line of sight of the Knights. If they got to far inside, then Lucius would be vulnerable. If that mattered at all. If Lucius had in fact led them down here to die, then could also mean he still had some power over the Hive.

He could stop if they got to close for comfort. A risky gamble, but between that risky plan and the odds he had otherwise, he would take the risky plan. He slung both his weapons over his shoulder and slowly withdrew and hid behind some pillars considerably farther behind Lucius. And then the advancing Knights, forewent Lucius almost entirely, they shifted their fire straight for Dorian. Chips of stone fell all around him as he tucked low behind cover.

That was it then. Lucius had led them here to die, if he had not then—

Shite. He had spoken too soon. Of course the Knights went attacked him first, he was not the defenseless one. The Thralls that he thought had been charging towards him, changed their direction ever so slightly. The first one arrived and clawed at Lucius. He stumbled, but his eyes remained glued to the Ritual—his eyes glued to the object, his face displayed pain but it was otherwise dead. The second one jumped and mauled him—or it would have if Dorian had not shot its face off.

Dorian's pulse rifle snapped to position and he sent a four-burst barrage that took the Knight so much by surprise it staggered into the other Knight. Dorian quickly constructed a grenade, then tossed it over to the Knights. In the Chaos that ensued he took out his shot gun and engaged the Thralls under the Ritual at point blank.

Both Knights and Thralls had noticed, he took their attention away from Lucius. But who was going to take their attention away from him. "A little help here!"

"I've got two Knights and another two on the way!" Tax yelled into comms with more frustration than Dorian thought the exo could have. "I'm sorry Dorian!"

Fuck it. Dorian leapt straight for the center of the Knights and Thrall and summoned his Nova Bomb. Using every last drop of his Light he cast the Nova Bomb down on the formation below him, scorching every last shred of Hive under him. Dorian landed on the ground, empty of his Light and wheezing for air. The battle taking place in the front of the room was every bit as intense as Dorian's. And they had two Guardians. A roar that was distinctly Hive came from behind him, telling him that another Knight was on its way. The Hive wasn't going to stop now, not when the Guardians in the room are so close to breaking. How long before they realized that he was the only one guarding the rear entrance. How long before they concentrated their effort more into attacking his end. Dorian stood at the doorway staring into the blackness.

"Heads up." His ghost warned him.

Two—no, three Knights, emerged from the Darkness. Running towards him from the darker depths of the cave, they didn't show any signs of falling back. They had Acolytes and Thralls in two. Dorian ejected a depleted magazine and cast a final glance at Lucius, who was still mid-ritual. He could throttle the man right then and there. But that was probably what the Hive wanted him to do as well. So damn him if he was going do their work for them. Brought his pulse rifle up and followed the Hive's green glow, then pulled the trigger in quick succession. Three thrall fell to the ground in quick succession. He turned to the acolytes, who had begun firing at him. He pulled the trigger again and again—felling the acolytes and then switching to his shotgun. After four shots that ran out too. He reached for his Light but none was there. The ritual's power was still strong, and there was no telling how close Lucius was to being done.

He felt shots jarring his armor as the Knights powerful projectiles exploded around him. He felt frozen, panicked to the very limit of his psyche and there was nothing to do about it. He felt weak and broken and hopeless. He was going to die, he was ready for it. Bloody hell, who was he kidding. He wasn't ready for it… He wanted to live, he didn't want this to be the end. He felt fear creeping into him… and then he felt clarity.

He began to form a Nova Bomb in his hand with the Void. It would be useless if he did not have any Light to fill it with. Like loaded gun missing its gunpowder. He turned toward the Knights nonetheless and charged at them. The Nova bomb felt nearly complete, albeit its missing Light. Dorian felt power in the distance—surging towards him. It was ferocious, it was unbound, it was hungry, it was… Not the Light. He kept on charging, if not then those knights would surely decimate him. He reached for the power, whatever it was it would have to do for now.

_DORIAN NO! DON'T—_

He touched it. It was like standing on this ice as it broke beneath you. The was that fatal crack, as the ice gave away, a resolute and final sound. Then the cold water welcomed you like a hungry beast welcomed its prey. And Dorian delved into that Power and it filled him. The Nova Bomb was complete. He jettisoned it for the entrance just as the Hive crossed it, and it exploded, lighting up the room.

In green light.

The explosion ripped the Hive apart, and cleared the entrance of Knights. The Acolytes and the Thrall at the edge of the explosion survived, jarred by it but alive. He turned on them, summoning that exact same power to generate force fields of Void energy. He blasted force fields left and right, some of them using the sheer blunt force of impact, some of them focused like walls of needles. He threw the Thralls into all sorts of directions.

He reached for his pulse rifle and reloaded it. Then took the fight to the acolytes and pushed them back as a far as the entrance and watched as they scrambled to cover. He summoned a grenade, his mind almost moving on its own accord as it constructed a new sort of grenade. He played around with the Void, re-arranging the structure of the grenade. Putting this here instead of that, and strengthening sections of the grenade he previously left alone. Then he powered it, that same power was still there. Like a writhing snake needing to be let out of its cage, it eagerly filled his grenade as he completed it and cast it. The dark cave beyond the chamber lit up with green light. Behind Hive lines he could see the damage it was producing. the grenade split off into smaller pieces, detonating in scattered explosions. A Scatter grenade seemed like a fitting name for it.

The figure of Knights glowed further down the caves, and Dorian raised his weapon and fired into the darkness. The blue-charged bullets of the pulse rifle lit up the cave, revealing the Knights' retreat. They were running away… from Dorian? He turned around and saw the reason they retreated. The black swirling mass of Darkness began to recede from the Traveler fragment. Finally it fully evaporated from the room and the shard of the Traveler was white and pure once more. Lucius really did live up to his word.

Light was restored, and Elsynn and Tax's appearances visibly improved. Dorian was not so sure about his own. Once Light was present, that power that fueled him so much before receded to nothing. It was as if the Light slowly drowned it out of his system. Moments later tt was gone. And so he welcomed the Light into him. It filled him with warmth where as that power filled him with coldness. The Power of the Light seemed weaker, but he it entered him smoothly—whereas that power wanted to rip him apart even as it empowered him. In the end he realized what it was. The Power coursing through him right then was _The_ _Light_. While that other power was—

_Darkness_. He voice said again with a weary tone, as if it had returned from a tiresome journey. Dorian didn't flinch anymore, but he took that statement as the harsh blow it was intended to be. _I tried to warn you. But you were caught up in the thrill of battle. You're lucky now the Light is back. _

"Hey! You alright?" Lucius asked. "You look a bit… green."

"Yeah just… realized how close I cheated death back there."

"If there were any perks to being a Warlock, that's cheating death." Lucius said patting Dorian in the back. "Now what?"

"Now we head to the tower." Tax said. "I'll relay what you did here to the Speaker and the Vanguards. Try and lighten your sentence, perhaps even a pardon. Whether or not you can still bear the title Guardian however is not up to me."

"You put your so much of your trust in the Speaker?"

"Not the speaker. The Traveler." Lucius tilted his head a little, Dorian could sense that behind that Warlock helmet, a condescending smile was present.

Once on the surface, Tax took his time to send his ghost up and retrieve the dead Guardians' Jumpships. Tax stowed the bodies and their dead ghosts in aboard his jumpship, _Marauder_, and set one of the Gunships on autopilot. Elsynn took Lucius to her the _Dashline_. Then she summoned the second jumpship—a phaeton by the name of _Wyvern._

"This belonged to Clave-6," Elsynn said, "He was a bit of a speed freak, and he cared about what he flew in. I think he would have appreciated if you had it. I'll be carrying Lucius in the back, your ghost should be able to pilot the _Wyvern_ just fine. I don't recommend that you try flying it before having any proper training."

Dorian promised to be careful as Lucius and Elsynn teleported to the _Dashline_.Dorian looked at the _Wyvern_ as it hung in the air. The phaeton looked simplistic, it had two extra engines on the side as he had a few other phaeton-class jumpships have. The colors were a mix of grey and blue and white. "Well take me to it, then." His Ghost complied and he landed a bit awkwardly on the seat before strapping himself into it. His ghost interfaced with the machine and got the jumpship going. The ship accelerated much faster than the _Dashline_. And caught up with it quickly.

"To the tower?" Dorian asked.

"To the tower." Elsynn replied as her jumpship zoomed into warp. "What do you think is waiting for you back there, Lucius?"

"I don't know. But I'll make something good of it, I always do." A confident chuckle followed.

"Are you always so optimistic?"

"I believe in one's ability to adapt and survive."

"Is that why you changed sides?" Tax asked a stern distrustful tone filling his voice.

Dorian and the rest waiting eagerly in Lucius' prolonged silence, "You could say that. You can say that I found myself I place where the Light did not help. So I adapted."

"And this is you adapting once more?" Dorian said.

"Yes." He said after a pause. "Yes it is."

"We're here." Tax said as the ships exited Warp and descended to the Tower.

When They arrived there it was a different scene than Dorian was prepared. Two Titans and a handful of Forces of The City troops awaited. At that late hour, the effects of the lights pointed at them were escalated. At dusk the lights seemed blinding. The Titans surrounded Lucius almost instantly. He spoke as they took his hands and secured them behind him, "Really?"

"I'm sorry," Tax said, "They wouldn't have it any other way."

"Of course they wouldn't. The Tower so paranoid. So… frightened." He said.

Elsynn took off helmet and joined The FOTC men to watch as they apprehended Lucius. Dorian followed her exampled. He breathed in fresh air, and watched as Lucius stared at him from behind the angular Warlock helmet visor. He tilted his head, and then shook his head.

"Dorian…" he said.

Then Dorian sensed the presence of the Darkness. He froze. The power that he touched in that Cave was here, he could feel it like a breeze coming towards Lucius. It was filling Lucius. He could see Lucius subtly weave the energy into a… "Everybody down!" He instinctively turned around and tackled a surprised Elsynn. Tax looked at Dorian as he yelled and tackled Elsynn down. He did not really know what was happening, but the instant Dorian landed on the ground, he threw up his Ward of Dawn around as many people as he could.

Dorian and Elsynn landed behind a line of FOTC men when Lucius blasted the Titans holding him aside then threw a Nova Bomb down at them. The explosion ripped the Titans apart and most of the FOTC troops outside the Tax's Ward of Dawn. His head jarred, Dorian pinned Elsynn down tightly with his own body. "Dorian…" Dorian lifted his head in time to see Lucius standing just at the edge of the Ward of Dawn, The fluorescent green glow of his powers rained gently over them. "Dorian," he said airily, like one saluted an opponent before duel. Then he vanished. Dorian caught glimpse of what must have been his gunship as it flew low over the City then flew back up into space.

-x-x-x-

"Reylani," Lucius said, moments after materializing into her jumpship. "Great to see you."

"Great to see that it worked." She replied, jamming the throttle forward and escaping city limits quickly. "Did you manage to learn anything?"

"Enough," he said, taking off his helmet in the safety of the jumpship. Then breathing in air that was recycled better than the air in his suit. "Enough." He rested his head back and fell into his thoughts

"Alright then," she turned to her long range comms. "Jackson?"

"Yeah?" replied the Titan on the other end.

She steered the jumpship out orbit, "I've got Thane, headed to you now." Then the jumpship hit warp.

_Author's Note: PLOT TWIST HAHAHAHA_


End file.
